A Coral-On-A-Chip Microfluidic Platform Enabling Metabolic Analysis Of A Single Coral Polyps

Coral polyps are basic clonal biological units of reef corals. In this study, we developed a microfluidic device integrated with an optical detection system to measure the oxygen consumption rates (OCR) of a single coral polyps in real time via phase-based phosphorescence lifetime measurement. The results show that coral polyps in the microfluidic chip can maintain their normal metabolic process over the cultivation period. The mean OCR values of a single coral polyps inside a microwell were 8.71 and 2.62 pmol/min/well at 22 °C and 32 °C seawater temperature, respectively. The OCR of coral polyps incubated at a high temperature decrease 31% compared with those at normal temperature, indicating the damage of coral polyps due to thermal stress.