Altered acrylic acid concentrations in hard and soft corals exposed to deteriorating water conditions

Westmoreland, Lori S. H.; Niemuth, Jennifer N.; Gracz, Hanna; Stoskopf, Michael K.

doi:10.1139/facets-2016-0064

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The function of TMAO in the coral holobiont is less clear, however synthesis of this compound has been linked to protection against hydrostatic protein damage in other cnidarians 62 . Metabolomic studies of other acroporids were also consistent with our putative identification of choline and malonate 63 as well as homoserine 20 in A . cervicornis in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Metabolomic profiles differ among unique genotypes of a threatened Caribbean coral

Lohr

Khattri

Guingab‐Cagmat

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Global threats to reefs require urgent efforts to resolve coral attributes that affect survival in a changing environment. Genetically different individuals of the same coral species are known to exhibit different responses to the same environmental conditions. New information on coral physiology, particularly as it relates to genotype, could aid in unraveling mechanisms that facilitate coral survival in the face of stressors. Metabolomic profiling detects a large subset of metabolites in an organism, and, when linked to metabolic pathways, can provide a snapshot of an organism’s physiological state. Identifying metabolites associated with desirable, genotype-specific traits could improve coral selection for restoration and other interventions. A key step toward this goal is determining whether intraspecific variation in coral metabolite profiles can be detected for species of interest, however little information exists to illustrate such differences. To address this gap, we applied untargeted 1 H-NMR and LC-MS metabolomic profiling to three genotypes of the threatened coral Acropora cervicornis . Both methods revealed distinct metabolite “fingerprints” for each genotype examined. A number of metabolites driving separation among genotypes were identified or putatively annotated. Pathway analysis suggested differences in protein synthesis among genotypes. For the first time, these data illustrate intraspecific variation in metabolomic profiles for corals in a common garden. Our results contribute to the growing body of work on coral metabolomics and suggest future work could identify specific links between phenotype and metabolite profile in corals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Metabolomic profiles differ among unique genotypes of a threatened Caribbean coral

Lohr

Khattri

Guingab‐Cagmat

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Released by legume roots and seeds, such as in alfalfa, it activates nodulation genes in Rhizobium meliloti (12). It is one of the most widely distributed betaines in higher plants (12,13), and it is also present with different concentration ranges in organisms such as reef-building corals (14,15), algae (16), and marine plankton, in which it can reach the millimolar range (17,18). It is likely released in the environment through the death of these organisms.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Elucidation of the trigonelline degradation pathway reveals previously undescribed enzymes and metabolites

Perchat

Saaidi

Darii

et al. 2018

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Trigonelline (TG; methylnicotinate) is a ubiquitous osmolyte. Although it is known that it can be degraded, the enzymes and metabolites have not been described so far. In this work, we challenged the laboratory model soil-borne, gram-negative bacterium ADP1 (ADP1) for its ability to grow on TG and we identified a cluster of catabolic, transporter, and regulatory genes. We dissected the pathway to the level of enzymes and metabolites, and proceeded to in vitro reconstruction of the complete pathway by six purified proteins. The four enzymatic steps that lead from TG to methylamine and succinate are described, and the structures of previously undescribed metabolites are provided. Unlike many aromatic compounds that undergo hydroxylation prior to ring cleavage, the first step of TG catabolism proceeds through direct cleavage of the C5-C6 bound, catalyzed by a flavin-dependent, two-component oxygenase, which yields ()-2-((methylformamido)methylene)-5-hydroxy-butyrolactone (MFMB). MFMB is then oxidized into ()-2-((methylformamido) methylene) succinate (MFMS), which is split up by a hydrolase into carbon dioxide, methylamine, formic acid, and succinate semialdehyde (SSA). SSA eventually fuels up the TCA by means of an SSA dehydrogenase, assisted by a Conserved Hypothetical Protein. The cluster is conserved across marine, soil, and plant-associated bacteria. This emphasizes the role of TG as a ubiquitous nutrient for which an efficient microbial catabolic toolbox is available.

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“…As such, there is well-developed understanding of how certain metabolites (for example, sugars, lipids and mycosporinelike amino acids) are associated with particular responses in Cnidarian hosts (Hillyer et al, 2017a(Hillyer et al, , 2018Galtier d'Auriac et al, 2018;Roach et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2021). In contrast, the behavior of other metabolites such as steroids, isoprenoids, alkaloids, and sulfur containing compounds such as dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) and glycosaminoglycans and/or their breakdown products including acrylate, have been studied far less (Sogin et al, 2014;Yuyama et al, 2016;Westmoreland et al, 2017;Williams et al, 2021). This has resulted in a strong bias in our knowledge of the roles of coral metabolites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Horizontal gene transfer can also facilitate rapid evolution within microbial strains and change metabolic functions, with the potential to subsequently also confer beneficial traits to their host (Webster and Reusch, 2017). The corals themselves also produce and mobilize other small compounds, including steroids, DMSP, betaines, and a diverse assemblage of lipids and mycosporine-like amino acids (Raina et al, 2013;Sogin et al, 2014;Westmoreland et al, 2017;Ngugi et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-Specific Variations in the Metabolomic Profiles of Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora millepora Mask Acute Temperature Stress Effects in Adult Coral Colonies

et al. 2021

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Coral reefs are suffering unprecedented declines in health state on a global scale. Some have suggested that human assisted evolution or assisted gene flow may now be necessary to effectively restore reefs and pre-condition them for future climate change. An understanding of the key metabolic processes in corals, including under stressed conditions, would greatly facilitate the effective application of such interventions. To date, however, there has been little research on corals at this level, particularly regarding studies of the metabolome of Scleractinian corals. Here, the metabolomic profiles [measured using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)] of two dominant reef building corals, Acropora hyacinthus and A. millepora, from two distinct geographical locations (Australia and Singapore) were characterized. We assessed how an acute temperature stress (an increase of 3.25°C ± 0.28 from ambient control levels over 8 days), shifted the corals’ baseline metabolomic profiles. Regardless of the profiling method utilized, metabolomic signatures of coral colonies were significantly distinct between coral species, a result supporting previous work. However, this strong species-specific metabolomic signature appeared to mask any changes resulting from the acute heat stress. On closer examination, we were able to discriminate between control and temperature stressed groups using a partial least squares discriminant analysis classification model (PLSDA). However, in all cases “late” components needed to be selected (i.e., 7 and 8 instead of 1 and 2), suggesting any treatment effect was small, relative to other sources of variation. This highlights the importance of pre-characterizing the coral colony metabolomes, and of factoring that knowledge into any experimental design that seeks to understand the apparently subtle metabolic effects of acute heat stress on adult corals. Further research is therefore needed to decouple these apparent individual and species-level metabolomic responses to climate change in corals.

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Altered acrylic acid concentrations in hard and soft corals exposed to deteriorating water conditions

Cited by 4 publications

References 30 publications

Metabolomic profiles differ among unique genotypes of a threatened Caribbean coral

Metabolomic profiles differ among unique genotypes of a threatened Caribbean coral

Elucidation of the trigonelline degradation pathway reveals previously undescribed enzymes and metabolites

Species-Specific Variations in the Metabolomic Profiles of Acropora hyacinthus and Acropora millepora Mask Acute Temperature Stress Effects in Adult Coral Colonies

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