{"id":39536,"date":"2025-11-09T15:44:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/?p=39536"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:43:15","slug":"scientific-breakthrough-uncovering-the-survival-strategy-of-a-unique-mediterranean-coral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/scientific-breakthrough-uncovering-the-survival-strategy-of-a-unique-mediterranean-coral\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientific Breakthrough: Uncovering the Survival Strategy of a Unique Mediterranean Coral"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"39536\" class=\"elementor elementor-39536 elementor-39535\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4cb68d1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4cb68d1\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-55a6891\" data-id=\"55a6891\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-37f530c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"37f530c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-73f4dd1\" data-id=\"73f4dd1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-821a987 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"821a987\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scientific Breakthrough: Uncovering the Survival Strategy of a Unique Mediterranean Coral\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ba883b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3ba883b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>19.10.25<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6862cb3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6862cb3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Shani Levy, faculty member at the <a href=\"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/school\/blue-biotechnology-and-sustainable-mariculture\/\">Department of Blue Biotechnologies and Sustainable Mariculture<\/a>, was recently published in Nature, one of the world\u2019s most prestigious scientific journals.\u00a0<br \/>The research was conducted during Dr. Levy\u2019s postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, in collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/tali-mass-2\/\">Prof. Tali Mass\u2019s<\/a> Coral Biomineralization and Physiology Lab from our Department of Marine Biology.<br \/>At the heart of the study lies Oculina patagonica, a remarkable Mediterranean coral capable of surviving without the symbiotic algae that most corals rely on.<br \/>Its secret? A dual feeding strategy:<\/p><ul><li>When algae are present, it harnesses their energy.<\/li><li>When algae are absent, it switches to feeding on particles in the water.<\/li><\/ul><p>In a world where corals are under immense pressure from ocean warming, this adaptive ability could be key to their survival. The study provides crucial insights into how marine organisms may respond to climate change.<br \/>The research was also featured in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ynet.co.il\/environment-science\/article\/h1y3snfree\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Ynet<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/newsletter.haifa.ac.il\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php?action=tnptr&amp;nltr=NDk5OzY4ODU7aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVtZWRpYWxpbmUub3JnL21pZGVhc3QtZGFpbHktbmV3cy90aGUtY29yYWwtdGhhdC1yZWZ1c2VzLXRvLWJsZWFjaC1ob3ctYS1tZWRpdGVycmFuZWFuLW5hdGl2ZS1jaGVhdHMtaGVhdC8lMjA7OzE3M2UyMzY2N2Q0YWVhZDU2ZDg4MDQxNWFkNzU4MjMy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Media Line, <\/a>highlighting its potential impact on coral reef conservation and climate resilience.\u00a0<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09623-6\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read the full paper<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3d62634 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3d62634\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-39539\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Shani Levy, faculty member at the Department of Blue Biotechnologies and Sustainable Mariculture, was recently published in Nature, one of the world\u2019s most prestigious scientific journals.<br \/>\nThe research was conducted during Dr. Levy\u2019s postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, in collaboration with Prof. Tali Mass\u2019s Coral Biomineralization and Physiology Lab from our Department of Marine Biology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-archive","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marsci.haifa.ac.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}