Hard to swallow: Coral cells seen engulfing algae for first time

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VIDEO: Dinoflagellates are single-celled algae that are essential for keeping corals healthy. When dinoflagellates are added to coral cell in a petri dish, the coral cells quickly engulf the algae. At...
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Credit: OIST
For the first time, scientists have seen stony coral cells engulf dinoflagellates - single-celled, photosynthetic algae that are crucial for keeping coral alive
The researchers used a cell line called IVB5, which contains endoderm-like cells cultured from the stony coral,
Acropora tenuis
Around 40% of coral cells incorporated the algae in around 30 minutes and remained healthy for one month
The research is a step towards understanding the partnership between coral and dinoflagellates and could shed light on how coral bleaching occurs

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