Inducing Polyp Bail-out in Coral Colonies to Obtain Individualized Micropropagates for Laboratory Experimental Use
byPedro M. Cardoso, Ahmed A. Alsaggaf, Helena Villela, Raquel Peixoto
DOI:10.3791/63840
Extra Information
Journal of Visualized Experiments: Jove 182 (2022)
Abstract
Corals are colonial animals formed by modular units called polyps. Coral
polyps are physiologically linked and connected by tissue. The
phenomenon of polyp bail-out is a process induced by acute stress, in
which coral polyps digest the tissue connecting them to the rest of the
colony and ultimately detach from the skeleton to continue living as
separate individuals. Coral biologists have acknowledged the process of
polyp bail-out for years, but only recently the micropropagates
generated by this process have been recognized as a model system for
coral biology studies. The use of polyp bail-out can create a high
number of clonal units from a single coral fragment. Another benefit is
that single polyps or patches of polyps can be easily visualized under a
microscope and maintained in highly standardized low-cost environments
such as Petri dishes, flasks, and microfluidic chips. The present
protocol demonstrates reproducible methods capable of inducing coral
micropropagation and different approaches for maintaining the single
polyps alive in the long term. This methodology was capable of
successfully cultivating polyps of the coral species Pocillopora verrucosa for up to 8 weeks after bail-out, exhibiting the practicality of using individual coral polyps for coral research.