Masters Project:
Reef building corals: the role of nitrate in coral-symbiont nitrogen cycling
The mutualism between cnidarian hosts and their intracellular algal symbionts is the ecological foundation of coral reef ecosystems. In the oligotrophic waters of the tropical ocean, the efficient exchange and recycling of organic and inorganic nutrients fuel the productivity of this symbiosis. In this association, only the algal symbionts possess the cellular machinery to reduce nitrate into ammonium for biomass synthesis. However, isotope tracer experiments have revealed that nitrogen from seawater nitrate is also assimilated into cnidarian host biomass. The proposed project will investigate whether the acidic intracellular host environment can stimulate the release of ammonium by algal symbionts. Using sterile algal cultures, we will test the effects of acidification on algal nitrate reduction and nutrient release by combining isotope tracer and nutrient flux measurements. Thereby, the proposed project promises to unravel whether “leaky nitrate reduction” by algal symbionts may provide a nitrogen source for cnidarian hosts under nitrogen-limited conditions.
Interested? Please reach out to [email protected] & [email protected]!
This page was last updated on 15.09.2022