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Multibiont Symbioses in the Coral Reef Ecosystem

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Symbioses and Stress

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 17))

Abstract

Symbiotic systems are ubiquitous and play key roles in a variety of ecological systems (Douglas, 1995). Symbioses involving microorganisms underpin certain biological communities (coral–algae, plant–mycorrhizal fungi, plant–bacteria), and in these systems they are important to the flux of energy and nutrients (Douglas, 1995). The classic symbiotic systems (involving two partners) usually involve one large organism (host) and one/several smaller organisms (symbionts) that are located within the body of their host (Douglas, 1994). The original definition of symbiosis: “phenomena of dissimilar organisms living together,” was coined by de Bary (1879) and has been frequently misinterpreted and used as a synonym of mutualism, mainly due to the fact that de Bary was engaged in research of the mutualistic relationship between algae and fungi in lichens (Castro, 1988). Much of the literature on symbiosis presupposes that the associations are mutualistic, but this view is not fully supported by direct experimental study (Douglas, 1995).

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to R. Vollweiler for valuable graphic assistance and N. Paz for editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 653, Be’er-Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Orit Barneah

  2. Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Itzchak Brickner

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  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. , Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University, Holteigasse 6, Graz, 8010, Austria

    Martin Grube

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Barneah, O., Brickner, I. (2010). Multibiont Symbioses in the Coral Reef Ecosystem. In: Seckbach, J., Grube, M. (eds) Symbioses and Stress. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9449-0_7

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