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Descubrimiento de cianobacterias fijadoras de nitrógeno simbióticas en corales
Michael P Lesser1, Charles H Mazel, Maxim Y Gorbunov
1Department of Zoology and Center for Marine Biology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. mpl@cisunix.unh.edu
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|August 18, 2004
Resumen
Los corales caribeños como Montastraea cavernosa fluorescen de color rojo naranja debido a las cianobacterias simbióticas. Estas bacterias fijan el nitrógeno, potencialmente suministrando este nutriente vital a la simbiosis del coral.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Biología Marina Biología Marina.
- Microbiología simbiótica microbiología simbiótica.
Sus antecedentes:
- La fluorescencia del coral es común, pero su fuente no siempre está clara.
- Montastraea cavernosa exhibe una fluorescencia distintiva de color rojo naranja.
- La simbiosis de los corales involucra dinoflagelados (zooxantelas) y puede estar limitada en nutrientes.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para identificar la fuente de fluorescencia rojo naranja en Montastraea cavernosa.
- Investigar el papel de las cianobacterias simbióticas en la fluorescencia de los corales y el ciclo de nutrientes.
Principales métodos:
- Análisis espectroscópico de la fluorescencia de los corales.
- Examen microscópico de tejidos de coral para identificar simbiontes.
- Análisis bioquímicos para detectar la actividad de la nitrogenasa.
Principales resultados:
- La fluorescencia rojo-naranja se origina en la ficoeritrina de las cianobacterias unicelulares dentro de las células huésped del coral.
- Estas cianobacterias coexisten con las zooxantelas.
- Se encontró que las cianobacterias expresan nitrogenasa, lo que indica la fijación de nitrógeno.
Conclusiones:
- Las cianobacterias simbióticas son la fuente de fluorescencia en Montastraea cavernosa.
- La fijación de nitrógeno por estas cianobacterias puede proporcionar una fuente de nitrógeno crucial para la simbiosis coral-alga.
- Este hallazgo pone de relieve una vía de nutrientes no reconocida previamente en los ecosistemas de coral.
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