Fecal pellets of tridacnine clams may fundamentally support coral-reef ecosystem
| Project/Area Number |
18K19232
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Medium-sized Section 40:Forestry and forest products science, applied aquatic science, and related fields
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| Research Institution | Hiroshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
Koike Kazuhiko 広島大学, 統合生命科学研究科(生), 教授 (30265722)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
山下 洋 国立研究開発法人水産研究・教育機構, 西海区水産研究所, 主任研究員 (00583147)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥6,110,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,410,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000)
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| Keywords | サンゴ礁 / 褐虫藻 / サンゴ / シャコガイ / 共生 / 生物多様性 / ウスエダミドリイシ / 共生ソース / Symbiodinium / Cladocopium / ゾーザンテラ |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Many of animals inhabiting around coral-reefs, including coral itself, have symbiotic relationship with a microalga called zooxanthella. Most of them rarely inherit this symbiont from their parents but must acquire it from surrounding waters or sediments. Consequently, zooxanthella must exist in the environment, which might be originated from giant clam, a bivalve shellfish also possessing zooxanthella in its body. In fact, there are numerous live zooxanthella cells in the fecal pellets expelled from giant clams. Under this research, the fecal pellets were given to larvae of giant clams or corals, and the infection of zooxanthella cells via the fecal pellets were observed. In the result, both animal larvae could establish symbiosis with the zooxanthella, which supports our hypothesis.
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
サンゴ礁を構成するサンゴや様々な生物には，その共生藻である褐虫藻が必要である。本研究によって，シャコガイの糞がシャコガイ幼生のみならずサンゴ幼生等へ褐虫藻を運ぶ役割を担っていることが示唆された。様々な生物が褐虫藻を与え，受け取り，サンゴ礁を形作っているとすれば，多様な生物が共存するサンゴ礁の姿そのものを表しているように思える。また，サンゴにとってもシャコガイが褐虫藻供給源として必要であれば，サンゴのみに着目して考えられてきたサンゴ礁の再生も再考の余地がある。
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Report
(3 results)
Research Products
(13 results)
