Coral reefs are being degraded worldwide by land reclamation and environmental factors, such as high seawater temperature, resulting in mass bleaching events. In addition, microplastics disturb the formation of coral-algae symbiotic relationships in primary polyps. In our experiments, we observed this effect in the bleached primary polyp Seriatopora caliendrum that lost its symbiont Symbiodiniaceae as a result of high water temperature. There was a higher incorporation of microspheres into bleached corals than in healthy ones. To understand the interference in symbiosis, we used the sea anemone Exaiptasia (as an anthozoan model organism) and fed it with microspheres. TEM results suggested the incorporation of microspheres and symbionts from the same phagocytosis zones in the mesenterial filament and endocytosis by the cells. In the tentacles, microspheres were in the same cell layer as the symbionts. These results suggest that microplastics occupy the spaces inhabited by Symbiodiniaceae, thereby hindering their symbiotic association.

全球范围内的土地开垦和环境因素（例如海水温度高）正在使珊瑚礁退化，从而导致大规模的漂白事件。此外，微塑料会干扰原发性息肉中珊瑚-藻类共生关系的形成。在我们的实验中，我们观察到了由于高温水而失去的共生共生双生科的漂白原息肉Seriatopora caliendrum的这种作用。与健康珊瑚相比，将微球纳入漂白珊瑚的比例更高。为了了解对共生的干扰，我们使用了海葵Exaiptasia（作为一种人类动物模型生物）并用微球喂食它。TEM结果表明，来自同一吞噬作用区的微球和共生体在肠系膜细丝中的结合以及细胞的内吞作用。在触角中，微球与共生体在同一细胞层中。这些结果表明，微塑料占据了共生植物的共生空间，从而阻碍了它们的共生关系。