Li, Y.; Liao, X.; He, C.; Lu, Z. Calcium Transport along the Axial Canal in Acropora. Diversity, 2021, 13, 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13090407.
Li, Y.; Liao, X.; He, C.; Lu, Z. Calcium Transport along the Axial Canal in Acropora. Diversity, 2021, 13, 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13090407.
Li, Y.; Liao, X.; He, C.; Lu, Z. Calcium Transport along the Axial Canal in Acropora. Diversity, 2021, 13, 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13090407.
Li, Y.; Liao, X.; He, C.; Lu, Z. Calcium Transport along the Axial Canal in Acropora. Diversity, 2021, 13, 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13090407.
Abstract
In Acropora, the complex canals in a coral colony connect all polyps into a holistic network to collaborate in performing biological processes, while axial canal is the largest canal amongst the network and distributes at the center of a coral branch. However, previous studies indicated that, in the non-radial symmetry transport system of Acropora, axial canal do not play a major role in the transport of hydroplasm, and the action of axial canal in coral growth is still obscure. In this study, we reconstructed six Acropora muricata samples by high resolution micro-computed tomography to investigate the growth patterns of axial canals during the processes of new branch forming and truncated branch rebuilding. We found that the axial canal of a new branch is transformed from a calice and the polyps in the new branch are budded from the polyp in the axial canal. Meanwhile, the axial canal can transport the calcareous skeletons to rebuild the tip of a truncated branch, which represents as the change in the diameter of axial canal and calcareous deposition/reduction in it. This work indicate the regulation of axial canal in the growth processes including budding, branching, and mineralising of an Acropora colony.
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