How soft corals defy their environment: Protein favors calcite formation in aragonite sea
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - 12:30
in Biology & Nature
Many marine organisms, including corals, build skeletons from calcium carbonate – in the form of calcite or aragonite. The current composition of seawater favors the formation of aragonite – but soft corals have a specific protein that allows them to form calcite skeletons instead.