Increased mitosis in the bleached gastrodermis of the sea anemone A. pallida

Today, coral bleaching represents a major concern for marine biologists, especially considering the upsurge of this phenomenon possibly linked to climate change. Bleached corals, deprived of most of their energy incomes, may show a partial or total mortality, which ultimately lead to shifts in reef communities. Studies focusing on cellular bleaching mechanisms have shown different ways by which algae may be expelled from gastrodermal host cells. Among those mechanisms, major emphasis has been put on host cell death, most probably due to both apoptosis and necrosis. Recovering gastrodermis is then expected to undergo regeneration process in order to be reinfected by new algae. We describe here this regeneration process in the bleached sea anemone model A. pallida.