Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59476. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059476. Epub 2013 Mar 27.
Fluorescence is common in both coral adult and larval stages, and is produced by fluorescent proteins that absorb higher energy light and emit lower energy light. This study investigated the changes of coral fluorescence in different life history stages and the effects of parental light environment on larval fluorescence, larval endosymbiotic dinoflagellate abundance, larval size and settlement in the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix. Data showed that coral fluorescence changed during development from green in larvae to cyan in adult colonies. In larvae, two green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) co-occur where the peak emission of one GFP overlaps with the peak excitation of the second GFP allowing the potential for energy transfer. Coral larvae showed great variation in GFP fluorescence, dinoflagellate abundance, and size. There was no obvious relationship between green fluorescence intensity and dinoflagellate abundance, green fluorescence intensity and larval size, or dinoflagellate abundance and larval size. Larvae of parents from high and low light treatments showed similar green fluorescence intensity, yet small but significant differences in size, dinoflagellate abundance, and settlement. The large variation in larval physiology combined with subtle effects of parental environment on larval characteristics seem to indicate that even though adult corals produce larvae with a wide range of physiological capacities, these larvae can still show small preferences for settling in similar habitats as their parents. These data highlight the importance of environmental conditions at the onset of life history and parent colony effects on coral larvae.
荧光在珊瑚成体和幼虫阶段都很常见，是由荧光蛋白产生的，这些蛋白吸收高能光并发射低能光。本研究调查了珊瑚在不同生活史阶段的荧光变化，以及亲代光照环境对幼虫荧光、幼虫内共生甲藻丰度、幼虫大小和在有性繁殖珊瑚 Sertia topora hystrix 中的附着的影响。数据显示，珊瑚荧光在从幼虫的绿色到成体群体的青色发育过程中发生变化。在幼虫中，两种绿色荧光蛋白 (GFP) 同时存在，其中一种 GFP 的峰值发射与第二种 GFP 的峰值激发重叠，从而允许能量转移。珊瑚幼虫的 GFP 荧光、甲藻丰度和大小差异很大。绿色荧光强度与甲藻丰度、绿色荧光强度与幼虫大小或甲藻丰度与幼虫大小之间没有明显的关系。来自高光和低光处理的亲代幼虫表现出相似的绿色荧光强度，但在大小、甲藻丰度和附着方面存在微小但显著的差异。幼虫生理的巨大变化与亲代环境对幼虫特征的微妙影响似乎表明，尽管成年珊瑚产生的幼虫具有广泛的生理能力，但这些幼虫仍然可以选择在与其亲代相似的栖息地中附着。这些数据强调了生命史开始时环境条件和亲代群体对珊瑚幼虫的重要性。
