A new research paper shows that some of the most common and iconic deep-sea corals can create their own light. Some can even release glowing slime. Most deep-sea corals are part of a group of animals called octocorals, which includes sea pens and bamboo corals. The familiar stony corals found on shallow tropical reefs are in a separate group hexacorals , and do not generally make their own light. Prior to this study, marine biologists already knew that some octocorals exhibited bioluminescence the ability to make their own light.
But this study suggests that octocorals evolved the ability to glow very early in their evolutionary history. When disturbed, colonies of the bamboo coral Isidella tentaculum glow in the dark. The poster child for glowing octocorals is the sea pansy, a shallow-water sea pen in the genus Renilla. Scientists have spent a lot of time analyzing the genes and proteins that Renilla uses to create light, including a key enzyme known as luciferase.
But they know relatively little about the biochemistry of other glowing octocorals, especially those that live in the deep sea. As part of an ongoing effort to understand the evolution of bioluminescence, MBARI Senior Scientist Steve Haddock and postdoctoral fellow Manabu Bessho-Uehara now at Nagoya University in Japan videotaped and collected specimens of nine different deep-sea corals and sea pens and found that all were able to make their own light.
Haddock and Bessho-Uehara wanted to find out if different groups of deep-sea corals used similar biochemical processes as Renilla to make light, or if they had evolved different processes.
Their first step was to figure out which deep-sea corals were bioluminescent. Then the team sent the ROV down to the seafloor to look for glowing animals. Since many animals only glow when disturbed, the researchers videotaped corals while gently touching or shaking them using the manipulator arm on the ROV. Using the ROV, the scientists carefully collected pieces of each type of coral and brought them back to the surface alive.
Then they videotaped the animals in a darkened cold room on board the research vessel Western Flyer. The researchers were surprised to discover that all of the corals they collected were able to make their own light. They also discovered several groups of corals not previously known to glow. The researchers collected and studied five different types of sea pens, all of which produced bioluminescence.
One sea pen in the genus Funiculina emitted blue light when the stalk or polyps were disturbed. The four other sea pens produced green light at wavelengths that suggested they were using green fluorescent protein. The sea pen Distichoptilum gracile not only produced waves of bright green light, but also released a glowing green slime.
Sea pens in the genus Halipteris often grow in groups on the muddy seafloor. Using an extremely light-sentive video camera, MBARI researchers were able to capture sea pens emitting waves of bioluminescent light. Another sea pen in the genus Kophobelemnon had distinct glowing green spots between its tentacles.
This is the first species in this genus known to glow. As a result, they lose their color and become more vulnerable to disease and death. In the past, scientists have suggested that shallow-water corals might be able to migrate or find refuge in deeper, cooler waters. Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist.
Learn more at erinblakemore. These glowing corals live deep in the Red Sea. Post a Comment. GFP, however, has its limitations—which is why scientists are continue to hunt for new forms that could be useful in medical research. After all, it took Shimomura and his colleagues more than forty years to isolate GFP.
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Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights. Fluorescence of the mouth region of the reef coral Lobophyllia hemprichii.
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