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Life's a bleach
The Scientist 2004, 18(18):32
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Rutgers University scientists have identified a physiological mechanism behind the bleaching that has affected coral reefs worldwide over the past three decades. Bleaching follows a rise in sea temperature, and it involves the ejection by coral polyps of symbiotic, photosynthetic algae from their tissues. Led by Paul Falkowski, professor of biological oceanography, the study finds that the melting of the fatty acid-based thylakoid membrane of the algal chloroplasts triggers this event.
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