Triggers, cascades, and endpoints: connecting the dots of coral bleaching mechanisms

The intracellular coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis is the engine that underpins the success of coral reefs, one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. However, the breakdown of the symbiosis and the loss of the microalgal symbiont (i.e. coral bleaching) due to environmental changes are resulting in the rapid degradation of coral reefs globally. There is an urgent need to understand the cellular physiology of coral bleaching at the mechanistic level to help develop solutions to mitigate the coral reef crisis. Here, at an unprecedented scope, we present novel models that integrate putative mechanisms of coral bleaching within a common framework according to the triggers (initiators of bleaching, e.g. heat,…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: NSF‐IOS‐1453519, HRD‐1547798, HRD‐2111661, HRD-1547798, 2111661, 1547798, 1453519, HRD-2111661
• FI
  Florida International University
• CR
  Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology