Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, Australia.
Bioessays. 2010 Jul;32(7):615-25. doi: 10.1002/bies.200900182.
The consideration of 'mutual benefits' and partner cooperation have long been the accepted standpoint from which to draw inference about the onset, maintenance and breakdown of the coral-algae endosymbiosis. In this paper, I review recent research into the climate-induced breakdown of this important symbiosis (namely 'coral bleaching') that challenges the validity of this long-standing belief. Indeed, I introduce a more parsimonious explanation, in which the coral host exerts a 'controlled parasitism' over its algal symbionts that is akin to an enforced domestication arrangement. Far from being pathogenic, a range of well-established cellular processes are reviewed that support the role of the coral host as an active 'farmer' of the energy-rich photoassimilates from its captive symbionts. Importantly, this new paradigm reposes the deleterious bleaching response in terms of an envelope of environmental conditions in which the exploitative and captive measures of the coral host are severely restricted. The ramification of this new paradigm for developing management strategies that may assist the evolution of bleaching resistance in corals is discussed.
“互利互惠”和伙伴合作的考虑长期以来一直是推断珊瑚-藻类共生关系的起源、维持和破裂的公认立场。在本文中，我回顾了最近关于这种重要共生关系（即“珊瑚白化”）的气候诱导破裂的研究，该研究挑战了这一长期存在的信念的有效性。事实上，我提出了一个更简约的解释，即珊瑚宿主对其藻类共生体施加一种类似于强制驯化安排的“受控寄生”。一系列成熟的细胞过程被认为支持了珊瑚宿主作为其被俘共生体的富含能量的光合作用产物的积极“农民”的角色，这些过程远非致病性的。重要的是，这种新的范例将有害的白化反应置于环境条件的范围内，在这种范围内，珊瑚宿主的剥削和俘获措施受到严重限制。本文讨论了这一新范例对于制定管理策略的意义，这些策略可能有助于珊瑚对白化的抵抗力的进化。
