Three researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington have made a groundbreaking discovery that could enhance the ability of reef-building corals to survive a rapidly warming and disease-filled ocean.
Three researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington have made a groundbreaking discovery that could enhance the ability of reef-building corals to survive a rapidly warming and disease-filled ocean.
In a newly published paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Bradford Dimos, Laura Mydlarz and Mark Pellegrino, all from the Department of Biology in the College of Science, report their identification of a mitochondrial unfolded protein response in an endangered coral species.
The cellular stress response promotes mitochondrial protein homeostasis, free radical detoxification and innate immunity. Its existence in corals was previously unknown.
“We understood that there is a target gene essentially used as a biomarker for diseased and distressed corals, and that gene is induced by the response pathway that my lab studies,” said Pellegrino, assistant professor of biology.
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