Fingerprinting the reef: single-cell metabolomic analyses of corals under threat from ecological change, an in situ study

Project Member(s): Petrou, K., Nielsen, D.

Funding or Partner Organisation: The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Australian Synchrotron Access Program (Beamtime))
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Australian Synchrotron Access Program (Beamtime))

Start year: 2023

Summary: Coral reefs form one of the most magnificent and diverse ecosystems on the planet. However, corals live close to their thermal tolerance, making them vulnerable to warming seas. This project advances our previous work on laboratory-treated corals, to resolve the biomolecular fingerprint of symbiont cells under thermal stress in situ, uncovering natural shifts in metabolic signature for the first time. The proposed research is significant because it will provide clues to the mechanism underpinning this response by comparing across species, will allow us to generate a metabolic fingerprint for the early detection of coral bleaching.

FOR Codes: Ecosystem adaptation to climate change, Marine biodiversity, Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences, Climate change science, Ecology, Ecological physiology

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.