Metabolomics Characterization of Scleractinia Corals with Different Life-History Strategies: A Case Study about Pocillopora meandrina and Seriatopora hystrix in the South China Sea

Jiying Pei; Shiguo Chen; Kefu Yu; Junjie Hu; Yitong Wang; Jingjing Zhang; Zhenjun Qin; Ruijie Zhang; Ting-Hao Kuo; Hsin-Hsiang Chung; Cheng-Chih Hsu

doi:10.3390/metabo12111079

Metabolites (Nov 2022)

Metabolomics Characterization of Scleractinia Corals with Different Life-History Strategies: A Case Study about Pocillopora meandrina and Seriatopora hystrix in the South China Sea

Jiying Pei,
Shiguo Chen,
Kefu Yu,
Junjie Hu,
Yitong Wang,
Jingjing Zhang,
Zhenjun Qin,
Ruijie Zhang,
Ting-Hao Kuo,
Hsin-Hsiang Chung,
Cheng-Chih Hsu

Affiliations

Jiying Pei: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Shiguo Chen: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Kefu Yu: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Junjie Hu: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Yitong Wang: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Jingjing Zhang: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Zhenjun Qin: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Ruijie Zhang: Coral Reef Research Center of China, Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China
Ting-Hao Kuo: Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Hsin-Hsiang Chung: Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Cheng-Chih Hsu: Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12111079
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 11
p. 1079

Abstract

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Life-history strategies play a critical role in susceptibility to environmental stresses for Scleractinia coral. Metabolomics, which is capable of determining the metabolic responses of biological systems to genetic and environmental changes, is competent for the characterization of species’ biological traits. In this study, two coral species (Pocillopora meandrina and Seriatopora hystrix in the South China Sea) with different life-history strategies (“competitive” and “weedy”) were targeted, and untargeted mass spectrometry metabolomics combined with molecular networking was applied to characterize their differential metabolic pathways. The results show that lyso-platelet activating factors (lyso-PAFs), diacylglyceryl carboxyhydroxymethylcholine (DGCC), aromatic amino acids, and sulfhydryl compounds were more enriched in P. meandrina, whereas new phospholipids, dehydrated phosphoglycerol dihydroceramide (de-PG DHC), monoacylglycerol (MAG), fatty acids (FA) (C S. hystrix. The metabolic pathways involved immune response, energy metabolism, cellular membrane structure regulation, oxidative stress system, secondary metabolite synthesis, etc. While the immune system (lysoPAF) and secondary metabolite synthesis (aromatic amino acids and sulfhydryl compounds) facilitates fast growth and resistance to environmental stressors of P. meandrina, the cell membrane structure (structural lipids), energy storage (storage lipids), oxidative stress system (short peptides), and secondary metabolite synthesis (guanidine compounds) are beneficial to the survival of S. hystrix in harsh conditions. This study contributes to the understanding of the potential molecular traits underlying life-history strategies of different coral species.

Published in Metabolites

ISSN: 2218-1989 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Microbiology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/metabolites

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