Dataset Information

A polyp-on-chip for coral long-term culture.

ABSTRACT: Coral polyps are basic clonal biological units of reef corals. However, in vitro experimental model for long-term physiological and ecological studies has not been well developed due to the difficulty of effectively acquiring and culturing single polyps. This study developed an experimental platform based on microfluidics for culturing single coral polyps and tracing its growth state over time in the long run. The corresponding computational modeling was conducted to predict the metabolic processes under the static and dynamic conditions by coupling the mass transfer and reaction with Navier-Stokes equations. Design and fabrication of the microfluidic chip was the key to provide a constant laminar flow environment that enabled the controlled high oxygen and bicarbonate transfer for the cultivation of the single coral polyps. The single coral polyps were induced to bail out of the coral reef upon the chemical stress and cultured for more than fifteen days in the microfluidic chip. It was found that the single coral polyps in the microfluidic chip can maintain their normal metabolic process over the cultivation period, suggesting that our microfluidic platform can serve as a suitable tool to study the coral polyps by providing a controllable and suitable biological microenvironment.

SUBMITTER: Pang AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7181858 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A polyp-on-chip for coral long-term culture.

Pang Ai-Ping AP Luo Yongsheng Y He Chunpeng C Lu Zuhong Z Lu Xiaolin X

Scientific reports 20200424 1

Coral polyps are basic clonal biological units of reef corals. However, in vitro experimental model for long-term physiological and ecological studies has not been well developed due to the difficulty of effectively acquiring and culturing single polyps. This study developed an experimental platform based on microfluidics for culturing single coral polyps and tracing its growth state over time in the long run. The corresponding computational modeling was conducted to predict the metabolic proces ...[more]

PMID: 32332805

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Project description:The plasticity of some coral-associated microbial communities under stressors like warming and ocean acidification suggests the microbiome has a role in the acclimatization of corals to future ocean conditions. Here, we evaluated the acclimatization potential of coral-associated microbial communities of four Hawaiian coral species (Porites compressa, Porites lobata, Montipora capitata, and Pocillopora acuta) over 22-month mesocosm experiment. The corals were exposed to one of four treatments: control, ocean acidification, ocean warming, or combined future ocean conditions. Over the 22-month study, 33-67% of corals died or experienced a loss of most live tissue coverage in the ocean warming and future ocean treatments while only 0-10% died in the ocean acidification and control. Among the survivors, coral-associated microbial communities responded to the chronic future ocean treatment in one of two ways: (1) microbial communities differed between the control and future ocean treatment, suggesting the potential capacity for acclimatization, or (2) microbial communities did not significantly differ between the control and future ocean treatment. The first strategy was observed in both Porites species and was associated with higher survivorship compared to M. capitata and P. acuta which exhibited the second strategy. Interestingly, the microbial community responses to chronic stressors were independent of coral physiology. These findings indicate acclimatization of microbial communities may confer resilience in some species of corals to chronic warming associated with climate change. However, M. capitata genets that survived the future ocean treatment hosted significantly different microbial communities from those that died, suggesting the microbial communities of the survivors conferred some resilience. Thus, even among coral species with inflexible microbial communities, some individuals may already be tolerant to future ocean conditions. These findings suggest that coral-associated microbial communities could play an important role in the persistence of some corals and underlie climate change-driven shifts in coral community composition.

Dataset Information

A polyp-on-chip for coral long-term culture.

Publications

A polyp-on-chip for coral long-term culture.

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