Abstract
Colonies of the Red Sea reef coral Stylophora pistillata were grafted with alien branches (alografts), which had been labelled by NaH14CO3 in the light. The “cold” host-colonies translocated the 14C-containing photosynthetic metabolites in an oriented pathway from the grafted branches into their own tissues. The highest accumulations of 14C products were detected in specific branch-tips of the host, away from the contact zones. The “recipient” colonies utilize these energy-rich materials for their metabolic requirements. The 14CO2 produced through respiration is consequently detected in the skeletal-carbonate of the tips as Ca14CO3. The purple morph of S. pistillata is found to be superior to the yellow morph.
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Rinkevich, B., Loya, Y. Oriented translocation of energy in grafted reef corals. Coral Reefs 1, 243–247 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304422
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304422