Wangpraseurt Daniel, Wentzel Camilla, Jacques Steven L, Wagner Michael, Kühl Michael
Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, Helsingør 3000, Denmark
Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Strandpromenaden 5, Helsingør 3000, Denmark.
J R Soc Interface. 2017 Mar;14(128). doi: 10.1098/rsif.2016.1003.
Application of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for imaging of tissue and skeleton structure of intact living corals enabled the non-invasive visualization of coral tissue layers (endoderm versus ectoderm), skeletal cavities and special structures such as mesenterial filaments and mucus release from intact living corals. Coral host chromatophores containing green fluorescent protein-like pigment granules appeared hyper-reflective to near-infrared radiation allowing for excellent optical contrast in OCT and a rapid characterization of chromatophore size, distribution and abundance. tissue plasticity could be quantified by the linear contraction velocity of coral tissues upon illumination resulting in dynamic changes in the live coral tissue surface area, which varied by a factor of 2 between the contracted and expanded state of a coral. Our study provides a novel view on the organization of coral tissue and skeleton and highlights the importance of microstructural dynamics for coral ecophysiology.
光学相干断层扫描（OCT）在完整活珊瑚组织和骨骼结构成像中的应用，实现了对珊瑚组织层（内胚层与外胚层）、骨骼腔以及特殊结构（如肠系膜丝）的无创可视化，并能观察到完整活珊瑚释放黏液的情况。含有绿色荧光蛋白样色素颗粒的珊瑚宿主色素细胞对近红外辐射呈现高反射性，这使得在OCT中具有出色的光学对比度，能够快速表征色素细胞的大小、分布和丰度。通过光照时珊瑚组织的线性收缩速度可以量化组织可塑性，这会导致活珊瑚组织表面积发生动态变化，在珊瑚的收缩和扩张状态之间，其变化幅度可达2倍。我们的研究为珊瑚组织和骨骼的组织结构提供了新的视角，并突出了微观结构动态对珊瑚生态生理学的重要性。
