Metabolic signatures of two scleractinian corals from the northern South China sea in response to extreme high temperature events

Shan Huang; Li Luo; Beihua Wen; Xurui Liu; Kefu Yu; Man Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106490

Metabolic signatures of two scleractinian corals from the northern South China sea in response to extreme high temperature events

Mar Environ Res. 2024 Apr 16:198:106490. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106490. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shan Huang¹, Li Luo¹, Beihua Wen², Xurui Liu³, Kefu Yu⁴, Man Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
² School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
³ School of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
⁴ Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China. Electronic address: kefuyu@scsio.ac.cn.
⁵ Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China. Electronic address: sdyczm@gxu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38636276
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106490

Abstract

Coral bleaching events are becoming increasingly common worldwide, causing widespread coral mortality. However, not all colonies within the same coral taxa show sensitivity to bleaching events, and the current understanding of the metabolic mechanisms underlying thermal bleaching in corals remains limited. We used untargeted metabolomics to analyze the biochemical processes involved in the survival of two bleaching phenotypes of the common corals Pavona decussata and Acropora pruinosa, during a severe bleaching event in the northern South China Sea in 2020. During thermal bleaching, P. decussata and A. pruinosa significantly accumulated energy products such as succinate and EPA, antioxidants and inflammatory markers, and reduced energy storage substances like glutamate and thymidine. KEGG analysis revealed enrichment of energy production pathways such as ABC transporters, nucleotide metabolism and lipid metabolism, suggesting the occurrence of oxidative stress and energy metabolism disorders in bleached corals. Notably, heat stress exerted distinct effects on metabolic pathways in the two coral species, e.g., P. decussata activating carbohydrate metabolism pathways like glycolysis and the TCA cycle, along with amino acid metabolism pathways, whereas A. pruinosa significantly altered the content of multiple small peptides affected amino acid metabolism. Furthermore, the osmoregulatory potential of corals correlates with their ability to survive in heat-stress environments in the wild. This study provides valuable insights into the metabolic mechanisms linked to thermal tolerance in reef-building corals, contributes to the understanding of corals' adaptive potential to heat stress induced by global warming and lays the foundation for developing targeted conservation strategies in the future.

Keywords: Climate change; Coral bleaching; Energy metabolism; Immunity; Metabolites; Thermal stress.