What is it about?
Manganese showed an antioxidative effect against superoxide radicals in the coral's ambient seawater and led to the production of Mn oxides in the coral's symbiont microalgae in culture, which may mimic the coral's endogenous antioxidant defence, offering protection against oxidative stress and bleaching.
Featured Image
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash
Why is it important?
We show the role of manganese as an antioxidant at low concentrations and have advanced the understanding of the protective pathways it offers to corals. We discovered for the first time that symbiont dinoflagellates in culture produce manganese oxides, which have strong antioxidant properties. Our findings are crucial for developing contingency applications to protect corals in the face of climate change, which has created a global coral crisis due to the mass coral mortalities observed in recent decades.
Perspectives
I hope that this article helps people understand the importance of protecting fragile coral reefs and marine ecosystems, and continue to support advancing science for the benefit of our ocean and by making conscious decisions next time they have a holiday on the beach.
Juan José Dorantes-Aranda
Centre Scientifique de Monaco
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dual protective role of manganese in the coral Stylophora pistillata under thermal stress: Scavenging of ambient superoxide and Symbiodiniaceae-associated Mn oxide production, PLOS Climate, April 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000897.
You can read the full text:
Resources
One Ocean Science Congress, France 2025
This poster presented the role of antioxidants in protecting corals against oxidative stress and bleaching to prevent coral mortality.
CORDAP project
This work is part of the CORDAP project "Boosting coral resilience with nutritional supplements" in collaboration with international partners.
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
