Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Curr Biol. 2024 Sep 9;34(17):R798-R801. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.047.
The partnership between corals and their intracellular algal symbionts has long been a textbook example of a mutually beneficial association. Here I argue that this view has been made obsolete by a steady accumulation of evidence over the past three decades. The coral-algal relationship is perhaps better viewed as one of domestication - think of it like a cattle farm, in which the coral is the farmer and the algae are the cows. I synthesize old and new evidence in support of this updated view and highlight remaining knowledge gaps, the largest of which continues to be the natural history of algal symbionts.
珊瑚与其细胞内共生藻类之间的伙伴关系长期以来一直是互利共生关系的典范。在这里，我认为，过去三十年来，不断积累的证据已经使这种观点变得过时。珊瑚-藻类关系也许更应该被视为驯化关系——可以将其想象成一个奶牛场，其中珊瑚是农场主，藻类是奶牛。我综合了新旧证据来支持这一更新的观点，并强调了仍然存在的知识空白，其中最大的空白仍然是藻类共生体的自然历史。
