Projects
BSF 2023-2028
Enhancement of coral recruitment and calcification for future reefs
PI: Tali Mass
Co PI: Dr. Tal Luzzatto Knaan, University of Haifa.
Dr. Hollie Putnam, University of Rhode Island.
Dr. Boaz Pokroy, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Coral reefs have immense value for culture, tourism, fisheries, and coastal protection, but are under severe threats from climate change. In order for reefs to persist under the rapidly changing conditions, coral settlement and growth are required. Climate change mitigation solutions such as human enhancement of coral growth will benefit coral 3D structure and the services reefs provide. We will study corals that differ in their growth rates and growth environments in Hawaiʻi, the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. We will test growth enhancement strategies in juvenile and adults under climate change stressors such as increased temperature and ocean acidification conditions. The project will bring together an international team of USA (PI Hollie Putnam) and Israeli (PIs Tali Mass, Tal Luzzatto-Knaan, Boaz Pokroy) experts in coral biology, biophysics, analytical chemistry, proteomics, material science and architecture. Collectively, our solution-focused work will help to improve ecosystem resilience, coastal protection, and food security.
Ministry of Environmental Protection 2023-2026
The effects of climate change on the ecosystem services of the gulf of Aqaba, environmental–economic
PI: Tali Mass
Co-PI: Dr. Ziv Zemah Shamir, University of Haifa,
Dr. Shiri Zemah Shamir, Reichman University
Dr. Racheli Armoza-Zvoloni, Dead Sea & Arava Science Center
Dr. Emanuel Cohen-Shaham, IUCN
The Gulf of Aqaba and its coral reefs are of great importance to Israel. This unique ecosystem is rich and diverse, but also threatened by multiple drivers, such as climate change, rising water temperature, declining seawater acidity, nutrients enrichment from anthropogenic sources, disaster risk events or pollution. These threats are even more significant since a growing part of the local population depends on tourism as livelihood. The overarching goal of this project is to map, quantify and estimate the effects of climate change on the provision of ecosystem services in the Gulf of Aqaba. Researchers from complementary disciplines will collect marine and terrestrial ecological and biological data, through different methods (e.g. socio-ecological assessments, mapping, economic valuation), to analyze the effects of climate change and flood-driven river flows on the Gulf’s marine ecosystems and the services they provide. This study will provide for the first time, an ecosystem services assessment of the Gulf of Aqaba, while focusing on the ecological, hydrological and economic impact of climate change on these services. This project will provide decision makers with accessible and synthesized data, scenarios analyses and operational tools to help them understand, plan, mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change on the various sectors in Eilat, especially the tourism sector.
MOST 2021-2024
Evaluating the mechanisms enabling temperate corals to persist and thrive in diverse environments
PI: Tali Mass
The association between scleractinian corals and photosynthetic dinoflagellates is one of the most well-known nutritional symbioses in nature. Algal symbionts transfer most of their autotrophically-acquired nutrients to their coral hosts and in turn receive macromolecules gained through the coral host's heterotrophic feeding on plankton. Despite the importance of nutrition for coral growth and wellness, the precise role of the different partners in nutrient acquisition and allocation within the symbiosis still needs to be defined. This relationship is even more intriguing in symbiotic corals growing in relatively low light conditions such as at mesophotic depths (30 – 150 m) or in caves and overhangs. In this condition, the classic contribution of the symbionts donating photosynthetic products is seemingly less relevant and new questions on the reason(s) to maintain this partnership are rising. The proposed study will address two primary research questions: (1) how does corals' energy source and physiology differ across light gradients, and (2) are these differences due to phenotypic plasticity or evolutionary adaptation? Variations in skeletal morphology, calcification, photosynthesis, respiration, symbiotic association, nutrient acquisition, and gene expression patterns will be examined in adult corals across naturally occurring light gradients in the sea. We will focus on temperate corals: Oculina patagonica, which we recently discovered to be migrating to deeper waters, a comparison between colonies at 1m and 30m depth; Madracis pharensis growing at 30 m depth in light exposed compared to shaded sites; and the aposymbiotic coral, Phyllangia americana growing at 20-40 m depth.
ERC Starting Grants 2017-2022
Mechanism of Coral Calcification in View of the Future Acidified Ocean
PI: Tali Mass
Although various aspects of biomineralisation in corals have been studied for decades, the basic mechanism of precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remains enigmatic. Two parallel lines of inquiry have emerged: geochemist models of calcification that are directly related to seawater carbonate chemistry at thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, the role of the organisms in the precipitation reaction is largely ignored. The second line is based on biological considerations of the biomineralisation process, which focuses on models of biophysical processes far from thermodynamic equilibrium that concentrate calcium ions, anions and proteins responsible for nucleation in specific compartments. Recently, I identified and cloned a group of highly acidic proteins derived the common stony coral, Stylophora pistillata. All of the cloned proteins precipitate aragonite in seawater at pH 8.2 and 7.6 in-vitro. However, it is not at all clear if the expression of these proteins in-vivo is sufficient for the formation of an aragonite skeleton at seawater pH values below ~7.8. Here using a combination of molecular, biophysical, genomic, and cell biological approaches, we proposed to test the core hypothesis that, unless wounded or otherwise having skeletal material exposed directly to seawater, stony zooxanthellate corals will continue to calcify at pH values projected for the CO2 emissions scenarios for 2100.
Specifically, the objectives of Ca2Coral are to:
1) Use functional genomics to identify the key genes and proteins involved both in the organic matrix and skeleton formation in the adult holobiont and during its larval development.
2) Use a genetics approach to elucidate the roles of specific proteins in the biomineralisation process.
3) Use ultra-high resolution imaging and spectroscopic analysis at different pH levels to elucidate the biomineralisation pathways and mineral precursor in corals in the adult holobiont and during its larval development.
GIF 2020-2023
Strong black coral? What makes the antipatharians so well adapted to life in the deep sea
PI: Tali Mass
Co-PI: Dr. Zaslansky Paul, Charité University Medicine Berlin
The anthipitarians are a group of black corals with flexible, strong skeletons that withstand harsh living environments up to 2000 m deep. Little is known about the structures and properties of the skeleton that directly contribute to their evolutionary success. Sparse publications have reported conflicting compositions based on chitin and poorly characterized inclusions, with some reports finding a wide range of elements but no mineral. In this project, we propose to install a GIF funded new collaboration between University of Haifa and the Charite university in Berlin to combine materials structure-properties characterization expertise with marine coral expertise to understand the resilience and strength of anthipitarians. We propose to elucidate the structure, composition and interactions at the micro and nanometer length scales using X-ray and various lab and large-facility (synchrotron) microscopes available in Israel and in Germany. We will examine the basic texture and composition of the composite and evaluate the interactions of the skeleton microstructure with mechanical deformation and damage resistance. Our results will shed light on the materials design strategies of a flexible living coral colony, well adapted to life in the deep see under strong, variable pressures and currents.
NSF-BSF 2020-2024
Assessing the mechanisms of molecular and morphological adaptation by corals to extreme environments
PI: Tali Mass
Co-PI: Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley, Central Caribbean Marine Institute, Cayman Islands
The recent devastating decline of shallow-water coral reef communities are expected to increase as oceans continue to warm, leading to more frequent and severe bleaching-induced mortality events. Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs), however, have not experienced the same trend and may be buffered from several of the local and global impacts affecting shallow-water coral reefs. It is hypothesized, therefore, that MCEs may serve as an important refuge for coral species, thereby increasing overall reef resilience.
In this project we will investigate the mechanisms leading to changes in morphology and physiology that enable species to thrive across a broad depth gradient.
This relates directly to important ecological questions on the fitness of mesophotic corals compared to their shallow reef conspecifics.
BSF 2017-2021
Function of Acid-Rich Proteins in Coral Biomineralization across Diverse Climates
PI: Tali Mass
Co-PI: Hollie Putnam
In Honor of Dr. Diane Adams
Although biomineralization in corals has been studied for decades, we cannot yet determine the vulnerability of corals to future scenarios, as the basic mechanism and proteins responsible for the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remain enigmatic. Recent proteomic analysis has identified a group of coral acid-rich proteins (CARPs) within the protein assemblage that creates a framework for the precipitation of aragonite. To address the questions of how the animal catalyzes the precipitation of biomineral, and the role of individual proteins in the biomineralization reaction in vivo, we propose to study both the temporal and spatial expression patterns and the biological function of the different CARPs in early life stages of diverse corals from sub-tropic, tropic and temperate climates and to gain mechanistic understanding of biomineralization in current and projected ocean acidification conditions. Early stages of biomineralization may be the most susceptible to environmental perturbations. Failure of young corals to biomineralize would compromise recovery from disturbance, dispersal, and sexual reproduction – all with disastrous implications for population dynamics and genetic diversity. The proposed pioneering research aims to test the core hypothesis that stony, zooxanthellate symbiotic corals will continue to calcify at projected ocean pH values for 2100. We combine the strengths of two early career female researchers in coral proteomics and biomineralization, and in larval ecology and developmental biology to lay the foundation for predicting the vulnerability of coral ecosystem diversity and function in the coming decades through unprecedented mechanistic insight. This work will establish new tools and techniques for corals that can transform the researchers’ and community’s mechanistic work in understanding coral physiology, symbiosis, and biomineralization.
ISF 2015-2020
Novel insights into the mechanism regulating the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton of coral
PI: Tali Mass
The precipitation and assembly of calcium carbonate skeletons by stony corals is a precisely controlled process regulated by the secretion of an ECM. Recently, it has been reported that the proteome of the skeletal organic matrix (SOM) contains a group of coral acid-rich proteins as well as an assemblage of adhesion and structural proteins, which together, create a framework for the precipitation of aragonite. However, although various aspects of biomineralization in corals have been studied for decades, the basic mechanism responsible for the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remains enigmatic. To address the questions of how does the animal catalyze the precipitation of biomineral, where and when is the biomineral formed, and what is the biophysical basis for the precipitation reaction? I propose a multi-disciplinary research approach
to test the core hypothesis that, unless wounded or otherwise having skeletal material exposed directly to seawater, stony, zooxanthellate corals will continue to calcify at pH values projected for the CO2 emissions scenarios for 2100. The major aims of the proposal are as follows:
1) Use functional genomics and protein immunolocalization at different pH values to identify the key genes and proteins involved in matrix formation and calcification during coral development; 2) Elucidate the functional roles of specific regions of CARP3, follow mineralization kinetics and crystal morphology of CARP-derived aragonite biocrystals and examine the structural properties of CARPs.
This multi-disciplinary research approach is designed to inform how pH of the ocean influences the key physiological processes responsible for calcification in zooxanthellate scleratinian corals. Furthermore, the proposed research program will provide a mechanistic understanding of the ability of zooxanthellate corals to calcify in the face of one the most certain environmental factors that will change in the coming decades of the 21st century.
GIF 2016-2017
Mechanisms of Coral Biomineralization: Organic/Inorganic Interface
PI: Tali Mass
The precipitation and assembly of calcium carbonate skeletons by stony corals is a precisely controlled process regulated by the secretion of an ECM. Recently, it has been reported that the proteome of the skeletal organic matrix (SOM) contains a group of coral acid-rich proteins as well as an assemblage of adhesion and structural proteins, which together, create a framework for the precipitation of aragonite.
However, although various aspects of biomineralization in corals have been studied for decades, the basic mechanism responsible for the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remains enigmatic.
To address the questions of how the animal catalyzes the precipitation of biominerals, how the organic macromolecules are incorporated into the growing mineral, and what is the biophysical basis of the precipitation reaction, I propose a multi-disciplinary research approach to investigate the individual aragonite crystals extracted from Stylophora pistillata skeletons growing under diverse physical conditions, with the objective of shedding light on the structural aspects of organic/inorganic interface.
Specifically, this project will provide a mechanistic understanding of the potential of the Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems [MCEs] as a refugia for a variety of shallow reef species.
BSF 2015-2017
Molecular Control of Coral Biomineralization: Comparative Studies of Gene Expression and Function of Highly Acidic Proteins in Corals
PI: Tali Mass
Co-PI: Diane Adams, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
Although biomineralization in corals has been studied for decades, we cannot yet determine the vulnerability of corals to future scenarios, as the basic mechanism and proteins responsible for the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remain enigmatic. Recent proteomic analysis has identified a group of coral acid-rich proteins (CARPs) within the protein assemblage that creates a framework for the precipitation of aragonite. To address the questions of how the animal catalyzes the precipitation of biomineral, and the role of individual proteins in the biomineralization reaction in vivo, we propose to study the temporal and spatial expression patterns and the biological function of the different CARPs in early life stages of diverse corals from sub-tropic, tropic and temperate climates. Early stages of biomineralization may be the most susceptible to perturbations. Failure of young corals to biomineralize would compromise recovery from disturbance, dispersal, and sexual reproduction – all with disastrous implications for population dynamics and genetic diversity. The proposed pioneering research aims to test the core hypothesis that stony, zooxanthellate corals will continue to calcify at projected ocean pH values for 2100. We combine the strengths of two early career female researchers in coral proteomics and biomineralization, and in larval ecology and developmental biology to lay the foundation for predicting the vulnerability of coral ecosystem diversity and function in the coming decades through unprecedented mechanistic insight. This work will establish new tools and techniques for corals that can transform the researchers’ and community’s mechanistic work in understanding coral physiology, symbiosis, and biomineralization.