Some corals and adapt to global warming – Time Patagonico

Coral reefs are threatened worldwide by increasing the temperature of the sea surface, which causes its whitening and therefore his death in the absence of food. However, some species of coral have greater resistance to high temperatures, but so far no known reason.

American and Australian researchers led by the University of Texas at Austin (USA), now reveal that some populations of corals already have genetic variants that allow them to tolerate the warm waters of the oceans. To demonstrate this, the team crossed Acroporamillepora corals originating in the Australian Great Barrier Reef, specifically two places with a difference of five degrees of latitude between them: Princess Charlotte Bay and the island Orpheus.

In the study, published this week in Science, scientists exposed for long periods of coral larvae to increasingly warm temperatures, and then analyzed the genes of individuals who survived. The results show that the cálidas- more heat-tolerant corals Princess Charlotte Bay-at northern Australia, with water 2 ° C produced larvae that were 10 times more likely to survive exposure to heat larvae corals Orpheus Island -more south and less resistentes-. The researchers were thus able to identify differences in gene expression of corals, which appeared to be related to hereditaria- and heat resistance. The work suggests that corals resistance to temperature, which varies depending on the latitude, transmitted from generation to generation and remote coral populations is not simply acclimatize to their different environments.

Swap corals to save

“Corals do not have to wait for new mutations to appear. So to prevent the extinction of corals could exchange some populations and extend its existing genetic variant “said Mikhail Matz, a scientist at the University of Texas. The team showed that if corals Princess Charlotte Bay intersect with corals Orpheus Island can transmit heat resistance to their offspring.” Although coral larvae can move naturally from oceans, humans can also help relocate corals adults and restart the process, “says Matz.

” This finding allows us to better understand the potential of corals to overcome increased ocean temperature, “he concludes Line Bay, co-author and researcher at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Australia)

. Source: SINC Agency