Scientists have discovered a key genetic difference in certain corals that may make them better able to withstand and survive heat stress, pointing to new ways of keeping the major marine organisms alive, according to a latest Australian-linked research.
"Robust" coral such as the brain and mushroom types display a special capacity to generate an essential amino acid that different complex-type corals do not possess, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation nonprofit group said in a statement on Friday about the genomics project it convened, touted as the first of its kind.
The extra amino acid means the "robust" corals are less dependent on their external food sources than the "complex" types such as the staghorn corals, it said.
All coral species are host to the symbiodinium microscopic algae that provide corals with nutrients, energy to form hard skeletal frames as well as their vivid color.
Corals in waters that are too warm for them expel their resident algae that result in coral bleaching and death.
Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, which is the world's largest reef ecosystem, has itself been hit by severe bleaching in recent years, with environmental groups citing climate change as a major factor.
The latest study, which involved a novel method of sequencing coral genomes, showed that brain and other robust corals can produce at least one of the essential amino acids and are therefore less reliant on their algae to survive, according to the foundation.
The findings, published in scientific journal Genome Biology, suggest that the brain and mushroom types of coral are more resilient to the impacts of bleaching than their complex coral counterparts, it said.
"This will hopefully be the first of many new discoveries that could unlock more genetic secrets to ensuring the future of our coral reefs," said the foundation's managing director Anna Marsden.
