Nesa, Badrun, Baird, Andrew H., Harii, Saki, Yakovleva, Irina, and Hidaka, Michio (2012) Algal symbionts increase DNA damage in coral planulae exposed to sunlight. Zoological Studies, 51 (1). pp. 12-17.

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Abstract

To test the hypothesis that algal symbionts make coral larvae more susceptible to high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and ultraviolet radiation (UVR), symbiotic and non-symbiotic planulae of Acropora tenuis were exposed to natural sunlight (high PAR and UVR) at an ambient temperature of approximately 27°C for 4 d. DNA damage to host cells was detected using a comet assay (single-cell gel electrophoresis). Coral cells from symbiotic planulae had longer comet tails than those from non-symbiotic planulae, indicating that cells in symbiotic larvae had more DNA damage than those in non-symbiotic larvae. This result suggests that symbiotic algae are a source of oxidative stress in larvae under conditions at the ocean surface.

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