The impact of acute benzo(a)pyrene on antioxidant enzyme and stress-related genes in tropical stony corals (Acropora spp.)

Can Palythoa cf. variabilis biochemical patterns be used to predict coral reef conservation state in Todos Os Santos Bay?

“…Our results show that corals from phase shift sites presented biochemical and metabolic changes in line with those already reported, that studied the effect of various stresses on corals (Dias et al, 2019, Downs et al, 2013, Marques et al, 2020, Xiang et al 2019, and therefore pointing to organisms from TSB in phase shift exhibiting differences in the biochemistry and metabolism compared to corals from conserved sites.…”

“…Since SOD is considered the first line of antioxidant defence (Fridovich, 1978) and the amount of soluble protein can be used to estimate the number of enzymes present in a cell (Lehnigher et al, 2005), both parameters evidence the cell's effort to induce mechanisms adapting cells to the new prevailing conditions, such as combating oxidative stress with the induction of antioxidant enzymes (SOD activity). Several studies reported biochemical changes in corals exposed to constraints such as contamination (Marques et al 2020, Xiang et al 2019, temperature rise (Dias et al 2019, Downs et al 2013, variation in light intensity (Downs et al 2013) and salinity changes (Dias et al 2019). Exposure to contaminants such as benzo[a]pyrene (Xiang et al 2019) decreased chlorophyll a, causing oxidative stress, which was combated by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, and changed the levels of HSP70 (protein chaperons related to protein conformation and stability).…”

“…Several studies reported biochemical changes in corals exposed to constraints such as contamination (Marques et al 2020, Xiang et al 2019, temperature rise (Dias et al 2019, Downs et al 2013, variation in light intensity (Downs et al 2013) and salinity changes (Dias et al 2019). Exposure to contaminants such as benzo[a]pyrene (Xiang et al 2019) decreased chlorophyll a, causing oxidative stress, which was combated by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, and changed the levels of HSP70 (protein chaperons related to protein conformation and stability). Exposure to Cu alone or in combination with other stresses (ocean acidification and temperature rise) led to changes in chlorophyll a (Marques et al 2020) and inhibited the activity of enzymes linked to the Krebs cycle and fermentation and the electron transport chain (Fonseca et al 2019).…”

Coral recruits are highly sensitive to heavy fuel oil exposure both in the presence and absence of UV light

“…However, in the present study, growth of 2-mo recruits decreased significantly with increasing treatment concentration during the 14-d exposure. It is plausible that less energy is allocated to growth during exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons to enable increased mucous production, upregulation of antioxidants and stress response enzymes, for example, to prevent or repair the damage caused by exposure (Downs et al, 2006;Overmans et al, 2018;Ramos and García, 2007;Renegar and Turner, 2021;Rougée et al, 2006;Xiang et al, 2019). Decreased growth rate may also result from increased energy demands for removal of aromatic hydrocarbons present in tissues, indicated by upregulation of proteins associated with xenobiotic processing, response and excretion, as observed in P. damicornis exposed to IFO 180 fuel oil WAF (Rougée et al, 2006), Porites lobata collected from a reef 3 months after a fuel oil spill (Downs et al, 2006) and Montastrea faveolata exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (Ramos and García, 2007).…”