"Engine" of coral reefs revealed

A team of coral researchers at Heron Island has compiled a gene expression library of Symbiodinium, the dinoflagellate responsible for feeding coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Team member Professor David Yellowlees said:

... these microscopic algae are quite weird and unlike any other lifeform. They have different photosynthetic machinery from all other light harvesting organisms. They have 100 times more DNA than we do and we have no idea why such a small organism needs so much. They really are like no other living creature we know.

The gene expression library will help shed light on what happens when Symbiodinium is stressed and how the symbiotic relationship between it and the coral it feeds is formed or broken. Heat, increased carbon dioxide and pollutants all affect this relationship, so this research is vital for the preservation of the Great Barrier Reef -- the world's largest superorganism and one of Australia's greatest treasures -- as well as other reefs around the world.