Development of a coral fluorescent protein monitoring system

This paper describes the development of an apparatus which can take a time series of coral fluorescence images. The purpose of this study is to provide an outline of a “coral fluorescent protein monitoring system”. We discuss the method of acquisition of the fluorescent images and the prospects for future studies. Fluorescent proteins are very common in reef corals. For example, fluorescent proteins such as Midoriishi-Cyan (MiCy), which produces blue-green fluorescence, and Azami-Green (AG), which produces green fluorescence, were identified in Galaxea fascicularis and Acropora sp.. A correlation between bleaching resistance in corals and the concentration of fluorescent proteins in their tissue was found after the large-scale bleaching event which struck the Great Barrier Reef in 1998. Therefore, coral fluorescence proteins play an important role in protecting coral zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) against excessive sunlight. Coral bleaching occurs when zooxanthellae leave their coral host. The result of this loss is the whitening of coral colonies. Therefore fluctuations in the concentration of fluorescent proteins in corals may be used as an index of coral activity. The responses of coral activity to environmental changes in coral reef regions may be evaluated by carrying out simultaneous measurements of coral fluorescence and environmental parameters.