Jaramillo Karla B, Guillén Paúl O, Abad Rubén, Rodríguez León Jenny Antonia, McCormack Grace
Marine Biodiscovery, School of Chemistry and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Zoology, School of Natural Sciences and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Galway, Ireland.
PeerJ. 2025 Mar 12;13:e19009. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19009. eCollection 2025.
Octocorals are sessile invertebrates that play a key role in marine habitats, with significant diversity in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, especially in Ecuador's shallow waters. This study focuses on the most representative octocorals within the Marine Protected Area El Pelado, Santa Elena, Ecuador, as a part of a marine biodiscovery project employing an integrative approach. While molecular techniques have advanced, challenges persist in distinguishing closely related species. Octocorals produce a wide range of compounds, characterized by unique chemical structures and diverse biological properties. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the potential of metabolomics and advanced analytical techniques to analyze the metabolome of these organisms, aiming to refine species classification and improve understanding of octocoral systematics in this region. Untargeted metabolomics effectively discriminates 12 octocoral species across five genera: , and , with notable differentiation between species within the genus , reinforcing its utility as an additional data set for species characterization. Secondary metabolites such as sterols, steroids, and terpenes (furanocembranolides and sesquiterpenes), were identified in and . Overall, this method enabled the identification of 11 known species and a potentially new one, cf. , confirming the extreme diversity of this group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and within the Ecuadorian marine ecosystem. The study highlights the value of metabolomics in octocoral systematics and encourages for its broader application in marine biodiversity research.
八放珊瑚是固着性无脊椎动物，在海洋栖息地中发挥着关键作用，在热带东太平洋地区具有显著的多样性，尤其是在厄瓜多尔的浅水区。作为一个采用综合方法的海洋生物发现项目的一部分，本研究聚焦于厄瓜多尔圣埃伦娜省埃尔佩拉多海洋保护区内最具代表性的八放珊瑚。尽管分子技术有所进步，但在区分亲缘关系密切的物种方面仍存在挑战。八放珊瑚会产生种类繁多的化合物，其特点是具有独特的化学结构和多样的生物学特性。因此，本研究的主要目标是评估代谢组学和先进分析技术在分析这些生物代谢组方面的潜力，旨在完善物种分类并增进对该地区八放珊瑚系统学的理解。非靶向代谢组学能够有效区分五个属（、和）中的12种八放珊瑚，属内不同物种之间有明显差异，这强化了其作为物种特征描述的额外数据集的效用。在和中鉴定出了甾醇、类固醇和萜类（呋喃cembranolides和倍半萜）等次生代谢产物。总体而言，该方法鉴定出了11个已知物种和一个可能的新物种，cf.，证实了该类群在热带东太平洋和厄瓜多尔海洋生态系统中的极端多样性。该研究突出了代谢组学在八放珊瑚系统学中的价值，并鼓励其在海洋生物多样性研究中更广泛地应用。
