Fatty acids of reef-building corals

Abstract

Fourteen reef-building coral species of Anthozoa and Hydrozoa classes, collected in various regions of the Indo-Pacific, were analyzed for fatty acid composition by gas-liquid chromatography. Total lipids of the corals had the same set of fatty acids. The main fatty acids were 16:0, 18:0, 18:l(n-g), 20:4(n-6), 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-3), but some coral families had significant levels of characteristic fatty acids. Poc~lloporidae -20:3(n-6), Acroporidae -18:3(n-6), 18:4(n-3) and 22:4(n-6); Poritidae -18.3(n-61, Milleporidae -22:4(n-6), 22:5(n-6) and 22:6(n-3). Related species of Pocilloporidae from Vietnam and Seychelles differed greatly in their content of saturated a c~d s -50 to 60 D/a and 30 %, respectively. As shown for Stylophora pistillata, the depth of the habitat affects the degree of fatty acid unsaturation and (n-3)/(n-6) ratio of neutral lipids, but does not affect phospholipid fatty acids. A possible role of A5-and A4-desaturases in determining fatty acid pool formation in reefbuilding corals is discussed with reference to their nutritional characteristics.

Distribution of lipids and fatty acids in corals by their taxonomic position and presence of zooxanthellae

“…that may indicate the strong influence of habitat depth on n-3:n-6 PUFA ratio in gorgonians. As shown for the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata, the depth affects n-3:n-6 ratio of FA of neutral lipids, but does not affect phospholipid FA (Latyshev et al 1991). FA composition of neutral lipids of a consumer depends on its food FA.…”

“…The level of 18:3n-6 and 18:4n-3 was very low in azooxanthellate alcyonarians (Imbs et al 2007b), gorgonians (Imbs et al 2009), and hexacorals Balanophyllia sp., Tubastrea aurea (Table S3), T. coccinea, and T. micrantha (Latyshev et al 1991). On the contrary, the level of these acids in zooxanthellate hexacorals ranged from 2 to 15% of total FA (Table S3; Latyshev et al 1991, Imbs et al 2007a). These C 18 PUFA are the main FAs of glycolipids, which play a key role in thylakoid membranes of zooxanthellae of reef-building corals (Tchernov et al 2004).…”

“…Predominance of 16:0, 18:3n-6, and 18:4n-3 in FA of hexacoral zooxanthellae have been previously reported (Al Moghrabi et al 1995, Papina et al 2003, Zhukova & Titlyanov 2003, Treignier et al 2008. The level of 18:3n-6 and 18:4n-3 was very low in azooxanthellate alcyonarians (Imbs et al 2007b), gorgonians (Imbs et al 2009), and hexacorals Balanophyllia sp., Tubastrea aurea (Table S3), T. coccinea, and T. micrantha (Latyshev et al 1991). On the contrary, the level of these acids in zooxanthellate hexacorals ranged from 2 to 15% of total FA (Table S3; Latyshev et al 1991, Imbs et al 2007a).…”

“…After the first attempt of wide screening of reef-building corals (Meyers 1977), several reliable comparisons of FA compositions of scleractinians and soft coral have been performed (Latyshev et al 1991, Carballeira et al 2002, Imbs et al 2007a. The first modern simultaneous investigation of lipid class and FA composition of Okinawa cnidarians was made by Yamashiro et al (1999).…”

Effect of light and feeding on the fatty acid and sterol composition of zooxanthellae and host tissue isolated from the scleractinian coral Turbinaria reniformis

“…Lipid composition was previously assessed in the entire animal (Latyshev et al 1991;Harland et al 1993;Yamashiro et al 1999) or in zooxanthellae in culture (CZ; Al-Moghrabi et al 1995), these latter having a different metabolism than the in hospite zooxanthellae especially concerning their photosynthetic processes (Goiran et al 1996;Allemand et al 1998). Finally, studies performed on freshly isolated zooxanthellae (FIZ) were not coupled with measures on the animal host (Zhukova andTitlyanov 2003, 2006).…”