Differences in Fatty Acids and Lipids of Massive and Branching Reef-Building Corals and Response to Environmental Changes

Frontiers in Marine Science

Hui Huang²  Yuyang Zhang³  Youfang Sun³  Chengyue Liu³  Lei Jiang³  Sheng Liu³  Lintao Huang⁵  Yong Luo⁵  Xiaolei Yu⁵ 

[1] CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China;Chinese Academy of Sciences-The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (CAS-HKUST) Sanya Joint Laboratory of Marine Science Research, Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Sanya Institute of Oceanology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO), Sanya, China;Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China;Sanya National Marine Ecosystem Research Station, Tropical Marine Biological Research Station in Hainan, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China;School of Earth and Planetary, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;

关键词: colony morphology;    reef-building coral;    fatty acids;    nutritional ecology;    total lipid content;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmars.2022.882663

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Reef-building corals present various colony morphologies that may greatly influence their nutritional ecology. Fatty acids (FAs) and lipids are important components of corals and have been increasingly used to research the nutritional ecology of corals. In this study, we examined the symbiodiniaceae density, corallite area, total lipid content, and FAs composition of 14 species of corals with different colony morphologies. The results showed that the different colony morphology of coral was significantly correlated with the corallite area but not with the symbiodiniaceae density. Massive corals, with a large corallite area (7.16 ± 6.29 mm2), could ingest a high quantity of food, leading to high levels of total lipid content and unsaturated FAs [particularly n-6 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) and monounsaturated FAs]. For branching corals, the total lipid content and saturated FAs (SFAs, 16:0 and 18:0) were significantly positively correlated with the Symbiodiniaceae density, indicating that branching corals are predominantly autotrophic. Moreover, compared with healthy corals, bleached corals consume larger amounts of stored energy (such as lipids and SFAs) to maintain their normal physiological functions. Although bleached corals may obtain PUFAs from heterotrophic assimilation or biosynthesize, the efficiency is too low to sufficiently replenish essential PUFAs in a short time. Overall, massive corals with more initial total lipid content and PUFAs exhibit an advantage under adverse environmental conditions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown