Editing Polyp (zoology) (section)

== Threats ==
75% of the world's corals are threatened<ref>{{Cite web|title = NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program: New Analysis: 75% of Coral Reefs Under Threat|url = http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcrcp/news/featuredstories/feb11/cu_threat/|website = coralreef.noaa.gov|access-date = 2015-06-08}}</ref> due to [[overfishing]], destructive fishing, coastal development, [[pollution]], thermal stress, [[ocean acidification]], [[crown-of-thorns starfish]], and introduced [[invasive species]].<ref>{{Cite document|title = Reefs at Risk Revisited|last = Burke|first = Reytar|date = 2011|publisher= World Resources Institute}}</ref>

In recent decades the conditions that corals and polyps have found themselves in have been changing, leading to new diseases being observed in corals in many parts of the world, posing even greater risk to an already pressured animal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barrero-Canosa-1, Duenas-2, Sanchez-3|first=J.-1, L.F.-2, J.A.-3|date=March 2013|title=Isolation of potential fungal pathogens in gorgonian corals at the Tropical Eastern Pacific|journal=Coral Reefs; Heidelberg|volume=32|issue=1|pages=35–41|doi=10.1007/s00338-012-0972-2|bibcode=2013CorRe..32...35B|s2cid=17561903|id={{ProQuest|1357199805}}}}</ref> [[Aquatic life]] has been put under a substantial amount of stress because of the pollutants caused by land-based [[agriculture]]. Particularly, exposure to the insecticide [[profenofos]] and the fungicide MEMC have played a major part in polyp retraction and biomass decrease.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/2611/1/2611_Markey_et_al...2007.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/2611/1/2611_Markey_et_al...2007.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Insecticides and a fungicide affect multiple coral life stages|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=330|pages=127–137|last=Markey, Kathryn L., Baird, Andrew H., Humphrey, Craig, and Negri, Andrew P|date=2007|bibcode=2007MEPS..330..127M|doi=10.3354/meps330127|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Differential gene expression in juvenile polyps of the coral Acropora tenuis exposed to thermal and chemical stresses|journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology|volume=430-431|pages=17–24|doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2012.06.020|year=2012|last1=Yuyama|first1=Ikuko|last2=Ito|first2=Yoshihiko|last3=Watanabe|first3=Toshiki|last4=Hidaka|first4=Michio|last5=Suzuki|first5=Yoshimi|last6=Nishida|first6=Mutsumi|bibcode=2012JEMBE.430...17Y }}</ref>

There have been many experiments supporting the hypothesis that heat stress in ''[[Acropora tenuis]]'' juvenile polyps provokes an up-regulation of protein in the [[endoplasmic reticulum]]. The results vary based on the polyp characteristics such as age, type, and growth stage.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}