Friday, June 26, 2015

Corals mutate their DNA to adapt to climate change: … – LaRed21

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Australian and American scientists, who work at the University of Texas, have found that the corals of this variety are transmitting heat tolerance in their DNA, which is allowing them to survive more amount, in the warmer waters of the oceans where his predecessors enjoyed more moderate temperatures.

The corals are particularly sensitive to temperature changes in the sea surface, and kills whitening colonies , but some survive better than others, although all come from the same latitudes where they were living for millions of years, until changes induced by man, altered their habitats.

The crossing of species could save coral

The last study published in the journal Science, crossed corals of the same variety, but from two niches with five degrees of latitude difference: Princess Charlotte Bay and Orpheus Island, both in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, but with more than 2 degrees apart. Coral larvae born, were exposed to increasingly warm temperatures and turns to cross. The genes of individuals who were born in the new generations, had a 10 times greater resistance to exposure to heat, than the originals.

The work, “suggests that resistance to temperature corals which varies depending on the latitude, it is passed from generation to generation and remote coral populations are not simply acclimatize to their different environments, “explains Sync agency that collects the report.

The news opens a promising field in the world of corals, whose extinction has been anticipated by scientists in the context of increasing climate change and its impact on the oceans.

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