Coral bleaching: Pigments give a protective glow

Coral reef bleaching, a response to various forms of stress, occurs when a reef loses the symbiotic algae that provide it with colour and nutrition. Coral bleaching events have increased in frequency and extent in the past 20 years, prompting fears that major reef tracts could be destroyed, with the extinction of many coral species. New light is shed on a mechanism of self defence available to some corals with the discovery that in excessive sunlight, the fluorescent pigments in corals dissipate excess energy at wavelengths of low photosynthetic activity, and reflect visible and infrared light. Many of these pigments are invisible in daylight, and closer examination suggests that they are more widespread than was thought, so may be an important factor in a coral reef's resistance to heat stress.

Fluorescent pigments in corals are photoprotective
ANYA SALIH, ANTHONY LARKUM, GUY COX, MICHAEL KÜHL, OVE HOEGH-GULDBERG
Nature 408, 850-853 (14 December 2000)
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14 December 2000 table of contents