ABOVE: A fluorescence image of the sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida containing Breviolum minutum algae (small red dots throughout)
TINGTING XIANG
Some anemones and corals depend on symbiotic relationships with the photosynthetic algae living inside them for survival. Algae produce sugars that the sea creatures use for food, and in return, they get nutrients such as carbon dioxide, phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen. The hosts have to keep their algae populations in check. Too few can lead to starvation and coral bleaching, while too many can overburden the host’s metabolism. Just how they manage algae numbers was unknown until now. A study released in Nature Communications on January 8 has revealed that anemones control their algae by limiting the supply of shared nitrogen.
A research team led by Tingting Xiang, a plant biologist at the University of North Carolina Charlotte who performed the work as a postdoc at the Carnegie Institution for Science ...
