Pei Jiying, Chen Shiguo, Yu Kefu, Hu Junjie, Wang Yitong, Zhang Jingjing, Qin Zhenjun, Zhang Ruijie, Kuo Ting-Hao, Chung Hsin-Hsiang, Hsu Cheng-Chih
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.
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Zhuhai 519080, China.
Metabolites. 2022 Nov 8;12(11):1079. doi: 10.3390/metabo12111079.
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 < 18), short peptides, and guanidine compounds were more enriched in 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.
生活史策略在石珊瑚对环境压力的易感性中起着关键作用。代谢组学能够确定生物系统对遗传和环境变化的代谢反应，适用于表征物种的生物学特性。在本研究中，以两种具有不同生活史策略（“竞争型”和“杂草型”）的珊瑚物种（南海的中型鹿角珊瑚和刺鹿角珊瑚）为研究对象，采用非靶向质谱代谢组学结合分子网络技术来表征它们的差异代谢途径。结果表明，溶血血小板活化因子（lyso-PAFs）、二酰基甘油羧基羟甲基胆碱（DGCC）、芳香族氨基酸和巯基化合物在中型鹿角珊瑚中更为富集，而新的磷脂、脱水磷酸甘油二氢神经酰胺（de-PG DHC）、单酰基甘油（MAG）、脂肪酸（FA）（C<18）、短肽和胍类化合物在刺鹿角珊瑚中更为富集。所涉及的代谢途径包括免疫反应、能量代谢、细胞膜结构调节、氧化应激系统、次生代谢物合成等。免疫系统（lysoPAF）和次生代谢物合成（芳香族氨基酸和巯基化合物）促进了中型鹿角珊瑚的快速生长和对环境应激源的抗性，而细胞膜结构（结构脂质）、能量储存（储存脂质）、氧化应激系统（短肽）和次生代谢物合成（胍类化合物）有利于刺鹿角珊瑚在恶劣条件下的生存。本研究有助于理解不同珊瑚物种生活史策略背后的潜在分子特征。
