Why is the conservation of the entire coral ecosystem paramount for maintaining the library of potential medicines?
The complex biochemical pathways for many compounds are maintained by the symbiotic bacteria, not just the coral host.
A crucial realization in the study of reef chemistry is that many of the promising therapeutic structures are not synthesized by the primary coral animal itself. Instead, they are the product of the symbiotic bacteria or other smaller organisms residing within or in close association with the coral structure. If environmental changes, such as altered ocean chemistry or habitat destruction, cause these microbial partners to disappear, the specific chemical pathways they control are extinguished permanently. This means that unlike terrestrial plants, which can sometimes be cultivated artificially once a useful compound is known, the unique, complex synthesis of marine symbiont drugs may be inextricably linked to the survival of the natural reef environment.
