Intressant tråd, koraller har med all säkerhet nytta av fluorescens. En tanke som slog mig var att det skulle kunna vara någon form av elektrontransport kedja för att producera ATP ( adenosintrifosfat som är en kemisk form av energi). Jag sökte efter vetenskapliga artiklar på området och teorierna är många men likväl intressanta. Jag fann bla detta av: Charles H. Mazel, Eran Fuchs publicerat i: Limnol. Oceanogr., 48(1, part 2), 2003, 390–401 q 2003, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc. "Some of the fluorescent pigments in corals have recently been identified (Matz et al. 1999) as forms of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) originally found in the hydromedusa Aequorea victoria (Chalfie et al. 1994). The identification of the molecular nature of a pigment does not in itself reveal its function. In Aequorea, GFP performs an energy transfer function in bioluminescence (Morin and Hastings 1971), converting the blue emission of the bioluminescence reaction to green. Corals, however, are not bioluminescent, and the function of the fluorescence has variously been ascribed to (1) providing photoprotection in high-light conditions (Kawaguti 1969; Salih et al. 2000), (2) enhancing photosynthesis in low-light conditions (Schlichter and Fricke 1990), or (3) both, depending on the positioning of the fluorescent pigment relative to the zooxanthellae (Salih et al. 1998; Dove et al. 2001). These functions have not been conclusively demonstrated for corals in general. Gleason (1993) found that the green fluorescent pigment in Porites astreoides, while more prevalent at shallower depths, did not provide protection against ultraviolet radiation. Mazel et al. (2003) concluded that the green fluorescent pigment in Caribbean corals is not performing either of the two functions mentioned above." artikeln i sin helhet hittar ni här: http://new.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_48/issue_1_part_2/0390.pdf Mvh Thomas