The skeleton formed by a coral plays a key role in the storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Previous studies have focused on the process by which adult corals produce minerals that harden existing tissues to form the skeleton, but the exact stage at which corals initiate the entire mineralization process has remained a mystery – until now.
For the first time researchers have identified the biological process of mineralization that occurs in a young coral that shifts from the plankton (swimming) stage to the "settled" stage in which it forms the skeleton from minerals that protect its colony. The discovery is important for understanding the process of coral reef formation and protecting marine creatures from the ecological damage associated with global warming. It also carries implications for new biotechnological developments using coral extractions to regenerate and reconstruct human bones.
The research was conducted by Prof. Gil Goobes, of the Department of Chemistry at Bar-Ilan University, Dr. Tali Mass, of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, and Dr. Anat Akiva and Dr. Iddo Pinkas, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications.