CORALS LIGHT
UP as fluoro symbiosis found, according to Nature News 5 July
2017, Nature Middle East 20 July 2017 and Proceedings of the royal Society B
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0320, published online 5 July 2017. Coral reefs have long
been known as a classic example of symbiosis, consisting of a combination of
coral polyps and algae. Coral polyps build the reef structure and provide
nutrients and carbon dioxide to the algae, which make food by photosynthesis.
The brilliant colours of coral reefs come from pigments in the algae and from
fluorescent proteins in the coral polyps. Corals growing in shallow waters
contain fluorescent proteins that convert UV light to green light. This is not
just to enhance the colour of the corals – it provides protection from strong
sunlight.
But in 2015 scientists found corals glowing in the dark underworld of
the Red Sea, some growing at depths of 50-60 metres (165-197ft). These beautiful
glowing fluorescent corals intrigued scientists as these corals grow in low
light conditions, where they don’t need protection from strong sunlight. The
light they do get is mainly at the blue end of the sunlight spectrum, and the
fluorescence comes from the deep water corals converting some of this light to
red-orange colours, which can penetrate deeper into the coral structure and
provide the symbiotic algae with more light for photosynthesis. The corals do
all this by using special proteins named photoconvertible red fluorescent
proteins (pcRFPs). The research team set up an experiment to simulate deep water
conditions in their laboratory and showed that the red fluorescent corals
survived better than corals without these light converting proteins. Jörg
Wiedenmann of University of Southampton, who led the study, commented: “Corals
need special features to adjust to life in these low-light depths for the
benefit of their vital photosynthetic partners”. He also stated “Our study
supports the notion that symbiotic corals living at greater depths have evolved
sophisticated adaptations to the challenges imposed by the special light
environment”.
Links: Nature News, Nature Middle East
ED. COM. This is certainly a sophisticated system to enable corals to grow in an environment with limited light, but it could not have evolved by chance random processes. Simply finding themselves in deep water with low levels of mostly blue light will kill off the coral, meaning they wouldn’t even have time to change their genes to make the light converting proteins needed to convert blue light to red-orange light. Furthermore, these red light fluorescent proteins are of no use to the coral polyps unless they already have the right photosynthetic algae to shine the light onto. These corals survive in low light conditions because they already have the proteins that do this, in the same way the shallow water corals survive in strong sunlight because they already have the UV light protective proteins. Symbiotic relationships such as coral polyps and algae are a good reminder that living systems had to be created quickly in order to survive and thrive. Six days of creation will work, where millions of years of evolution will not. Creation Research.
Links: Nature News, Nature Middle East
ED. COM. This is certainly a sophisticated system to enable corals to grow in an environment with limited light, but it could not have evolved by chance random processes. Simply finding themselves in deep water with low levels of mostly blue light will kill off the coral, meaning they wouldn’t even have time to change their genes to make the light converting proteins needed to convert blue light to red-orange light. Furthermore, these red light fluorescent proteins are of no use to the coral polyps unless they already have the right photosynthetic algae to shine the light onto. These corals survive in low light conditions because they already have the proteins that do this, in the same way the shallow water corals survive in strong sunlight because they already have the UV light protective proteins. Symbiotic relationships such as coral polyps and algae are a good reminder that living systems had to be created quickly in order to survive and thrive. Six days of creation will work, where millions of years of evolution will not. Creation Research.
