Li Y, Han T, Bi K, Liang K, Chen J, Lu J, He C, Lu Z. The 3D Reconstruction of Pocillopora Colony Sheds Light on the Growth Pattern of This Reef-Building Coral.
iScience 2020;
23:101069. [PMID:
32504876 PMCID:
PMC7276440 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2020.101069]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Coral reefs are formed by living polyps, and understanding the dynamic processes behind the reefs is crucial for marine ecosystem restoration. However, these processes are still unclear because the growth and budding patterns of living polyps are poorly known. Here, we investigate the growth pattern of a widely distributed reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis from Xisha Islands using high-resolution computed tomography. We examine the corallites in a single corallum of the species in detail, to interpret the budding, growth, and distribution pattern of the polyps, to reconstruct the growth pattern of this important reef-building species. Our results reveal a three-stage growth pattern of P. damicornis, based on different growth bundles that are secreted by polyps along the dichotomous growth axes of the corallites. Our work on the three-dimensional reconstruction of calice and inter-septal space structure of P. damicornis sheds lights on its reef-building processes by reconstructing the budding patterns.
We use high-resolution computed tomography to investigate coral forming and polyp budding processes
The calice reconstruction shows coral growth patterns and budding information
Our work visualizes the growth pattern of Pocillopora damicornis
High-resolution computed tomography is a method for future reef-building coral studies
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