Inheritance Inheritance. Metachromatic leukodystrophy is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. This means that both copies of the disease-causing gene in each cell must have a mutation for an individual to be affected. Individuals inherit two copies of each gene - one copy from each parent.
Crown-of-thorns starfish. Crown-of-thorns starfish are one of the most damaging creatures of tropical coral reefs, particularly Australia's Great Barrier Reef. They are voracious predators that release the contents of their stomach on to the coral.
In the past 40 years, three waves of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks have had a major impact on the many reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef. Crown-of-thorns starfish (also known as COTS) are marine invertebrates that feed on coral.