Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (5): 133-140.doi: 10.11978/2021078CSTR: 32234.14.2021078

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of warming on the metabolism and photosynthetic physiology of the symbiotic algae of two morphological types of Galaxea fascicularis

HE Qian1,2,3,4(), YU Xiaolei1,2,3,4, LIANG Yuxian1,2,3, ZHANG Zhe1,2,3,4, HUANG Hui1,2,3, ZHOU Weihua1,2,3(), YUAN Xiangcheng1,2,3()   

  1. 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    2. CAS-HKUST Sanya Joint Laboratory of Marine Science Research; Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Sanya 572000, China
    3. Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station; Tropical Marine Biological Research Station in Hainan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2021-06-22 Revised:2021-08-26 Online:2022-09-10 Published:2021-08-27
  • Contact: ZHOU Weihua, YUAN Xiangcheng E-mail:heqian19@mails.ucas.ac.cn;whzhou@scsio.ac.cn;xcyuan@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(41976120);Key Research and Development Project of Hainan Province, China(ZDYF2020200);Research Project of Sanya Yazhou-Bay SCI-TECH City Administration(SKJC-2020-01-010);Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China(2020B1212060058)

Abstract:

The effects of warming on the metabolism and photosynthetic physiology of symibiodiniaceae of two morphological types (H and S) of a reef-building coral, Galaxea fascicularis, were studied. The results showed that the physiological responses of H-type and S-type to warming were clearly different. At the symibiodiniaceae level, H-type lost a large number of symibiodiniaceae, and reduced the burden of respiratory metabolism of symbionts. In S-type, the number of zooxanthellae could still maintain the needs of symbionts for respiratory metabolism, while increasing the content of chlorophyll b to enhance light absorption. At the host level, the H-type made full use of nutrients delivered by zooxanthellae and compensated for energy consumption through heterotrophic feeding. The nutrients stored by the S-type host could assist the symbionts to adapt to the thermal environment. Galaxea fascicularis adapted itself to environmental changes through different energy utilization modes, i.e., H-type tended to maintain the metabolic balance of the symbiont, while S-type intended to improve the energy distribution of symbiotic algae.

Key words: Galaxea fascicularis, symbiotic algae, warming, morphological types, metabolism, photosynthetic physiology

CLC Number: 

  • P735.542