Abstract
Freshly collected pieces of the hermatypic coral Acropora cf. scandens containing dinoflagellate endosymbionts (presumably Gymnodinium microadriaticum) were allowed to assimilated 14C from H14CO3-in the light and in the dark. Time-dependent carbon uptake resulted in intense 14C-labelling of ethanol-soluble as well as of insoluble assimilates. About forty 14C-labelled assimilates have been identified. Polymeric (ethanol-insoluble) compounds achieve about 30% of total radiocarbon incorporation after 60 min incubation. Kinetics of 14C-labelling of single assimilates are analyzed. Percentages of typical photosynthates in the soluble fraction undergo characteristic time-dependent changes. Lipids proved to be the main accumulation products of carbon assimilation by incorporating more than 50% of 14C after 60 min photosynthesis. The data indicate that low-molecular weight photosynthates such as 14C-glycerol and 14C-glucose are rapidly converted to constituents of the polymeric fraction(s) of the coral. Besides peptides, polysaccharides, and lipophilic substances, considerable amounts of 14C are confined to skeletal CaCO3 of the coral. The results are discussed with respect to trophic and metabolic interrelationships between the autotrophic dinoflagellates and the A. cf. scandens tissues.
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