New Research: Corals and sponges are hotspots of reactive oxygen species in the deep sea

November 2023 saw the publication of a fantastic collaboration article with a team out of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Temple University, and Lehigh University. Lead author Lina Taenzer and colleagues crafted an interesting study on reactive oxygen species superoxide that are produced by deep-sea corals and sponges from recent 2018 field work using the submersible Alvin off the west coast of the US.

The full article can be found here open access: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/11/pgad398/7420998

Abstract: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are central to diverse biological processes through which organisms respond to and interact with their surroundings. Yet, a lack of direct measurements limits our understanding of the distribution of ROS in the ocean. Using a recently developed in situ sensor, we show that deep-sea corals and sponges produce the ROS superoxide, revealing that benthic organisms can be sources and hotspots of ROS production in these environments. These findings confirm previous contentions that extracellular superoxide production by corals can be independent of the activity of photosynthetic symbionts. The discovery of deep-sea corals and sponges as sources of ROS has implications for the physiology and ecology of benthic organisms and introduces a previously overlooked suite of redox reactants at depth.