Li Yixin, Han Tingyu, Bi Kun, Liang Kun, Chen Junyuan, Lu Jing, He Chunpeng, Lu Zuhong
State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
Nanjing Institute of Paleontology and Geology, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
iScience. 2020 Jun 26;23(6):101069. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101069. Epub 2020 Apr 18.
Coral reefs are formed by living polyps, and understanding the dynamic processes behind the reefs is crucial for marine ecosystem restoration. However, these processes are still unclear because the growth and budding patterns of living polyps are poorly known. Here, we investigate the growth pattern of a widely distributed reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis from Xisha Islands using high-resolution computed tomography. We examine the corallites in a single corallum of the species in detail, to interpret the budding, growth, and distribution pattern of the polyps, to reconstruct the growth pattern of this important reef-building species. Our results reveal a three-stage growth pattern of P. damicornis, based on different growth bundles that are secreted by polyps along the dichotomous growth axes of the corallites. Our work on the three-dimensional reconstruction of calice and inter-septal space structure of P. damicornis sheds lights on its reef-building processes by reconstructing the budding patterns.
珊瑚礁由活的珊瑚虫形成，了解珊瑚礁背后的动态过程对于海洋生态系统恢复至关重要。然而，这些过程仍不清楚，因为活珊瑚虫的生长和出芽模式鲜为人知。在这里，我们使用高分辨率计算机断层扫描技术研究了来自西沙群岛的一种广泛分布的造礁珊瑚——鹿角杯形珊瑚的生长模式。我们详细检查了该物种单个珊瑚骨骼中的珊瑚杯，以解释珊瑚虫的出芽、生长和分布模式，从而重建这种重要造礁物种的生长模式。我们的研究结果揭示了鹿角杯形珊瑚基于珊瑚虫沿着珊瑚杯二分生长轴分泌的不同生长束的三阶段生长模式。我们对鹿角杯形珊瑚杯口和隔壁间空间结构的三维重建工作，通过重建出芽模式，揭示了其造礁过程。
