2025-07-03 カリフォルニア大学サンディエゴ校（UCSD）
An image of Montipora coral polyps taken by the BUMP microscope, a new instrument developed by Scripps Institution of Oceanography with funding from the National Science Foundation. In a new study, scientists describe how this diver-operated microscope will help them uncover precisely why corals bleach. Credit: Or Ben-Zvi
カリフォルニア大学サンディエゴ校の研究チームは、ダイバーが操作可能な水中顕微鏡「BUMP」を開発した。これはPAM蛍光測定技術を搭載し、サンゴの共生藻類の光合成効率や微細な生理変化を非破壊で海中観察できる。操作はタッチパネル式で、電源も内蔵。漂白など環境ストレスの初期兆候を現場で捉えることが可能となり、サンゴ保全に新たな手段を提供する。本技術は他の海洋生物にも応用可能で、海洋生態研究に革新をもたらす。
＜関連情報＞
- https://today.ucsd.edu/story/diver-operated-microscope-brings-hidden-coral-biology-into-focus
- https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.70078
底生水中顕微鏡イメージングPAM（BUMP）：微細構造と光合成効率をその場で評価する非侵襲的ツール The Benthic Underwater Microscope imaging PAM (BUMP): A non-invasive tool for in situ assessment of microstructure and photosynthetic efficiency
Or Ben-Zvi, Paul Roberts, Devin Ratelle, Joseph Snider, Pichaya Lertvilai, Daniel Wangpraseurt, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Jennifer E. Smith, Jules S. Jaffe
Methods in Ecology and Evolution Published: 02 July 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70078
Abstract
- Essential to life on Earth, assessment of marine photosynthesis is of paramount importance. Photosynthesis occurs in spatially discrete microscopic entities at various levels of biological organization, from subcellular chloroplasts to symbiotic microalgae and macroalgae, and is influenced by the surrounding conditions.
- As such, in situ photosynthetic efficiency mapping on appropriate scales holds great promise for learning about these processes.
- To achieve this goal, we designed, fabricated, and tested an underwater microscope that incorporates standard colour, epifluorescence, and variable chlorophyll a fluorescence imaging with nearly micron spatial resolution that resolves the structure and photosynthetic efficiency of benthic organisms.
- Our results highlight coral observations with high-resolution photosynthetic spatial variability and detailed morphology. Our imaging system therefore enables research never before possible on the health and physiology of benthic aquatic organisms in situ, placing it in the context of their physical and biological environment.
