EXISTENCE of corals is threatened by environmental
changes, pollution and direct human interference in many
coral reefs around the world. Diseases bring about destruction
of corals to a greater extent than other factors. Investigations
on diseases that help identify the factors which cause and
manifest the disease will help in the management of diseases1.
We earlier reported partial mortality in the massive coral
Porites lutea affected by pink-line syndrome (PLS)2,3.
Fungi and a cyanobacterium Phormidium valderianum were
isolated from the PLS-affected specimens. The cyanobacterium
was identified as the etiological agent in the PLS
through Koch’s postulate experiments3,4. This communication
reports on the cellular changes associated with the
PLS-affected corals and the interaction between the host
tissue and associated organism.
Coral specimens of P. lutea affected by PLS and healthy
ones were collected from a lagoon in Kavaratti island and
were transported in sea water to the field laboratory.
These specimens were fixed and preserved following the
standardized method4. Healthy and PLS-affected specimens
preserved in 70% ethanol were cut into small pieces of