New research has revealed that certain protein particles distinguish resilient corals from those that succumb to bleaching, offering new molecular tools for reef conservation and climate resilience. “Some corals are very resilient and very robust. To improve reef restoration efforts, we performed studies to determine how to identify and select resilient coral for propagation purposes and to assure they would have offspring,” said Brook L. Nunn, research associate professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Part of the research team was SAFS Associate Professor, Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño. “The work provides a blueprint for identifying corals most likely to survive future bleaching events, offering critical insights to predict and enhance reef resilience in a rapidly warming world,” she said.