Symbiotic Relationships between Microalgal Zooxanthellae and Reef-Building Coral Polyps in the Process of Autotrophic and Heterotrophic Nutrition
The present review briefly summarizes the results of the studies on coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific conducted by the authors and their colleagues who participated in joint publications and research since the late 1970s until recent times. Experimental field and laboratory-based works were carried out during the expeditions aboard the R/V Kallisto and R/V Akademik Aleksandr Nesmeyanov, as well as at the marine biological stations in Japan, China, Vietnam, and Israel. The main goal of these studies was to obtain data on the variety and mechanisms of symbiotic relationships that are established between a host animal and its intracellular symbionts when the former organism carries out its most important life functions.