Effects of seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of massive Porites spp. corals

Allison, Nicola; Ross, Phoebe; Brasier, Alexander T.; Cieminska, Nadia; Martin, Nicolas Lopez; Cole, Catherine; Hintz, C. J.; Hintz, Kenneth J.; Finch, Adrian A.

doi:10.1007/s00227-022-04060-9

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…fungi and algae decreases the pH of intraskeletal porefluids [ 53 ] to promote carbonate dissolution. Assessing how changes in coral macrostructure [ 6 , 7 ], micro- and nano structure (this study) and organic content and composition [ 6 , 24 , 26 ] influence the response of skeletons to chemical attack is yet to be determined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is broad variability between massive Porites spp. genotypes, both in terms of the calcification rates of individuals grown at present day seawater pCO 2 [ 30 ] and in the response of corals to elevated pCO 2 [ 7 , 30 ]. The individual coral selected for study here appeared relatively resilient to high seawater pCO 2 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The coral studied here is genotype 1 as reported in our previous work [ 7 , 24 , 30 ]. High seawater pCO 2 (750 µatm) reduced the calyx surface area in this coral, i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High seawater pCO 2 (750 µatm) reduced the calyx surface area in this coral, i.e. decreasing the mean diameter of individual coral polyps [ 7 ], but did not significantly affect calcification rate [ 30 ] or mean trabeculae width [ 7 ]. Total skeletal amino acid concentration was positively correlated with culturing seawater pCO 2 in this coral [ 24 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthropogenic increases in atmospheric CO 2 are altering seawater chemistry and reducing ocean pH in a process termed ocean acidification [ 4 ]. Ocean acidification typically decreases coral calcification (the rate at which the skeleton is formed) [ 5 ], results in pronounced changes in skeletal structure [ 6 , 7 ] and reduces the resistance of the skeletal structure to bioerosion [ 8 , 9 ]. Understanding why these changes occur is important for predicting the future of reef environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The response of coral skeletal nano structure and hardness to ocean acidification conditions

et al. 2023

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Ocean acidification typically reduces coral calcification rates and can fundamentally alter skeletal morphology. We use atomic force microscopy (AFM) and microindentation to determine how seawater pCO 2 affects skeletal structure and Vickers hardness in a Porites lutea coral. At 400 µatm, the skeletal fasciculi are composed of tightly packed bundles of acicular crystals composed of quadrilateral nanograins, approximately 80–300 nm in dimensions. We interpret high adhesion at the nanograin edges as an organic coating. At 750 µatm the crystals are less regular in width and orientation and composed of either smaller/more rounded nanograins than observed at 400 µatm or of larger areas with little variation in adhesion. Coral aragonite may form via ion-by-ion attachment to the existing skeleton or via conversion of amorphous calcium carbonate precursors. Changes in nanoparticle morphology could reflect variations in the sizes of nanoparticles produced by each crystallization pathway or in the contributions of each pathway to biomineralization. We observe no significant variation in Vickers hardness between skeletons cultured at different seawater pCO 2 . Either the nanograin size does not affect skeletal hardness or the effect is offset by other changes in the skeleton, e.g. increases in skeletal organic material as reported in previous studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The coral studied here is genotype 1 as reported in our previous work [ 7 , 24 , 30 ]. High seawater pCO 2 (750 µatm) reduced the calyx surface area in this coral, i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The response of coral skeletal nano structure and hardness to ocean acidification conditions

et al. 2023

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Sterols, free fatty acids, and total fatty acid content in the massive Porites spp. corals cultured under different pCO2 and temperature treatments

et al. 2023

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Lipids may serve as energy reserves to support coral calcification, allow acclimation to higher temperatures, and are implicated in the control of CaCO3 precipitation. Here, we report the lipid composition of the soft tissues (including host and symbionts) of 7 massive Porites spp. coral colonies (4 × P. lutea and 3 × P. murrayensis), which were cultured under different pCO2 concentrations (180, 260, 400 and 750 µatm) and at two temperatures (25 ℃ and 28 ℃), below the thermal stress threshold. We report the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), free fatty acid (FFA) to total fatty acid content, sterol and wax ester profiles, and identify two ketones (n-alkanone) and three long chain aldehyde (n-alkanal) derivatives. Increasing seawater temperature significantly increases the contributions of FFAs to the total lipids, of C18:2 and C20:0 to the total FFA pool, of C14:0 to total FAME, and of campesterol to total sterol. The temperature increase also reduces the contributions of unusual fatty acid derivatives to total lipids, of C14:0, C15:0, C16:0 and C17:0 saturated free fatty acids to total FFAs, and of C16:0 FA to total FAME. Fatty acids are implicated in the control of membrane structure fluidity and the observed changes may promote acclimation and thermostability as temperature varies. Seawater pCO2 has no significant effect on the composition of tissue lipids with the exception that the contribution of C14:0 FA to total lipid content is significantly lower at 180 µatm compared to 260 and 750 µatm. Decreased contribution of total sterols and unusual fatty acid derivatives and increased contribution of total FFAs to total lipids are observed in the fastest calcifying coral (a P. lutea specimen) compared to the other corals, under all pCO2 and temperature conditions. Although a rapid calcifier this genotype has been shown previously to exhibit pronounced abnormal changes in skeletal morphology in response to decreased seawater pCO2. Variations in tissue lipid composition between coral genotypes may influence their resilience to future climate change.

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The influence of seawater pCO2 and temperature on the amino acid composition and aragonite CO3 disorder of coral skeletons

Allison,

Ross,

Castillo Alvarez

et al. 2024

Coral Reefs

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Coral skeletons are composites of aragonite and biomolecules. We report the concentrations of 11 amino acids in massive Porites spp. coral skeletons cultured at two temperatures (25 °C and 28 °C) and 3 seawater pCO2 (180, 400 and 750 µatm). Coral skeletal aspartic acid/asparagine (Asx), glutamic acid/glutamine (Glx), glycine, serine and total amino acid concentrations are significantly higher at 28 °C than at 25 °C. Skeletal Asx, Glx, Gly, Ser, Ala, L-Thr and total amino acid are significantly lower at 180 µatm seawater pCO2 compared to 400 µatm, and Ser is reduced at 180 µatm compared to 750 µatm. Concentrations of all skeletal amino acids are significantly inversely related to coral calcification rate but not to calcification media pH. Raman spectroscopy of these and additional specimens indicates that CO3 disorder in the skeletal aragonite lattice is not affected by seawater pCO2 but decreases at the higher temperature. This is contrary to observations in synthetic aragonite where disorder is positively related to the aragonite precipitation rate mediated by either increasing temperature (this study) or increasing Ω (this study and a previous report) and to the concentration of amino acid in the precipitation media (a previous report). We observe no significant relationship between structural disorder and coral calcification rate or skeletal [amino acid]. Both temperature and seawater pCO2 can significantly affect skeletal amino acid composition, and further work is required to clarify how environmental change mediates disorder.

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Effects of seawater pCO2 on the skeletal morphology of massive Porites spp. corals

Cited by 3 publications

References 37 publications

The response of coral skeletal nano structure and hardness to ocean acidification conditions

The response of coral skeletal nano structure and hardness to ocean acidification conditions

Sterols, free fatty acids, and total fatty acid content in the massive Porites spp. corals cultured under different pCO2 and temperature treatments

The influence of seawater pCO2 and temperature on the amino acid composition and aragonite CO3 disorder of coral skeletons

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