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Acid secretion by the boring organ of the burrowing giant clam, Tridacna crocea.


ABSTRACT: The giant clam Tridacna crocea, native to Indo-Pacific coral reefs, is noted for its unique ability to bore fully into coral rock and is a major agent of reef bioerosion. However, T. crocea's mechanism of boring has remained a mystery despite decades of research. By exploiting a new, two-dimensional pH-sensing technology and manipulating clams to press their presumptive boring tissue (the pedal mantle) against pH-sensing foils, we show that this tissue lowers the pH of surfaces it contacts by greater than or equal to 2 pH units below seawater pH day and night. Acid secretion is likely mediated by vacuolar-type H+-ATPase, which we demonstrate (by immunofluorescence) is abundant in the pedal mantle outer epithelium. Our discovery of acid secretion solves this decades-old mystery and reveals that, during bioerosion, T. crocea can liberate reef constituents directly to the soluble phase, rather than producing sediment alone as earlier assumed.

SUBMITTER: Hill RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6030592 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acid secretion by the boring organ of the burrowing giant clam, <i>Tridacna crocea</i>.

Hill Richard W RW   Armstrong Eric J EJ   Inaba Kazuo K   Morita Masaya M   Tresguerres Martin M   Stillman Jonathon H JH   Roa Jinae N JN   Kwan Garfield T GT  

Biology letters 20180601 6


The giant clam <i>Tridacna crocea</i>, native to Indo-Pacific coral reefs, is noted for its unique ability to bore fully into coral rock and is a major agent of reef bioerosion. However, <i>T. crocea</i>'s mechanism of boring has remained a mystery despite decades of research. By exploiting a new, two-dimensional pH-sensing technology and manipulating clams to press their presumptive boring tissue (the pedal mantle) against pH-sensing foils, we show that this tissue lowers the pH of surfaces it  ...[more]

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