Dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) as an Indicator of Bleaching Tolerance in Scleractinian Corals

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

Graham B. Jones¹  Stacey King¹ 

关键词: dimethylsulphoniopropionate;    coral bleaching;    Great Barrier Reef;    antioxidants;    thermal tolerance;    zooxanthellae clades;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jmse3020444

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Thermal tolerance tests on Acropora millepora, a common Indo-Pacific hard coral, have shown that adult corals can acquire increased thermal tolerance by shuffling existing type C to type D Symbiodinium zooxanthellae when subjected to increased seawater temperatures. We report here dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations in A. millepora and examine links between DMSP concentrations, zooxanthellae clade, and bleaching tolerance. DMSP analysis on native and transplanted corals from three locations in the Great Barrier Reef indicated that the lower thermal tolerance in type C zooxanthellae coincided with variable DMSP concentrations, whilst the more thermal tolerant type D zooxanthellae had more stable areal DMSP concentrations as seawater temperatures increased. Our results suggest this increased thermal tolerance in type D zooxanthellae may reflect the ability of these coral symbionts to conserve their antioxidant DMSP levels to relatively constant concentrations, enabling the coral to overcome the build-up of oxygen free radicals in the cytoplasm of A. millepora. A conceptual diagram illustrates how the antioxidants DMS (P) participate in the bleaching process by scavenging oxygen free radicals and form DMSO, thus moderating coral bleaching and increasing thermotolerance.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.