New Research Could Help Address Threats To Reefs

Corals depend on their symbiotic relationships with the algae that they host. But how do they keep algal population growth in check? The answer to this fundamental question could help reefs survive in a changing climate.

New work published in Nature Communications by a team including UNC Charlotte researcher and lead author Tingting Xiang and Carnegie’s Sophie Clowez, Rick Kim, and Arthur Grossman indicates how sea anemones, which are closely related to coral, control the size of their algal populations that reside within their tissue. Before joining UNC Charlotte as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences this academic year, Xiang was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Plant Biology with the Carnegie Institution for Science.

https://exchange.charlotte.edu/new-research-could-help-address-threats-to-reefs/