Metabolomic profiling reveals deep chemical divergence between two morphotypes of the zoanthid Parazoanthus axinellae

Abstract

Metabolomics has recently proven its usefulness as complementary tool to traditional morphological and genetic analyses for the classification of marine invertebrates. Among the metabolite-rich cnidarian order Zoantharia, Parazoanthus is a polyphyletic genus whose systematics and phylogeny remain controversial. Within this genus, one of the most studied species, Parazoanthus axinellae is prominent in rocky shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Atlantic Ocean. Although different morphotypes can easily be distinguished, only one species is recognized to date. Here, a metabolomic profiling approach has been used to assess the chemical diversity of two main Mediterranean morphotypes, the “slender” and “stocky” forms of P. axinellae. Targeted profiling of their major secondary metabolites revealed a significant chemical divergence between the morphotypes. While zoanthoxanthin alkaloids and ecdysteroids are abundant in both morphs, the “slender” morphotype is characterized by the presence of additional and bioactive 3,5-disubstituted hydantoin derivatives named parazoanthines. The absence of these specific compounds in the “stocky” morphotype was confirmed by spatial and temporal monitoring over an annual cycle. Moreover, specimens of the “slender” morphotype are also the only ones found as epibionts of several sponge species, particularly Cymbaxinella damicornis thus suggesting a putative ecological link.

Response diversity in Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages facing climate change: Insights from a multispecific thermotolerance experiment

“…Specifically, we used three species of anthozoans (cnidarians): Parazoanthus axinellae (Schmidt, 1862) , Leptopsammia pruvoti (de Lacaze‐Duthiers, 1897), and Alcyonium acaule (Marion, 1878); six species of demosponges (poriferans): Agelas oroides (Schmidt, 1864), Axinella polypoides (Schmidt, 1862), Axinella damicornis (Esper, 2784), Crambe crambe (Schmidt, 1862), Dysidea avara (Schmidt, 1862), and Petrosia ficiformis (Poiret, 1789); and one species of ascidian (tunicate): Cystodytes dellechiajei (Della Valle, 1877) (See Supporting information Methods , Figure and Table ). For Parazoanthus axinellae , two different and easily distinguished morphotypes were used: the rather yellow and thin “slender” morphotype, which mostly lives in rocky substrates but can also usually be found as an epibiont on demosponges, and the bright orange “stocky” morphotype, which is mainly found in primary substrates (Cachet et al, ). We distinguished between these two morphotypes because of the ongoing scientific debate about whether they could, in fact, be two separated species (Cachet et al, ).…”

Total Synthesis of the Marine Natural Product Parazoanthine F by Copper‐Mediated C–N Coupling

“…The mixture was heated at reflux for 1 h. The solvent was removed, and the residue was purified by column chromatography (RP-18, H 2 NH) ppm. At 0°C, this solution was added dropwise to a mixture of l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (2.340 g, 8.90 mmol, 1.0 equiv.)…”

“…[1] Figure 1 shows the optically active members of the family (parazoanthines A, D, F, G, and I). [2] This sponge has also been a source of the pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids in which we have an ongoing research interest. [1,2] The parazoanthines appear to occur exclusively in those specimens of P. axinellae that grow on other organisms such as the sponge Cymbaxinella sp.…”

Chemogeography of the red macroalgae Asparagopsis: metabolomics, bioactivity, and relation to invasiveness

“…Trade-off between the specialized metabolism, and the primary metabolism dedicated to essential biochemical processes such as growth and reproduction can be assessed by this approach (Ivanisevic et al 2011b). Bioactivities of extracts can be directly correlated to the expression level of targeted metabolites (Cachet et al 2015;Martí et al 2003;Reverter et al 2016), and metabotypes were shown to explain bioactivity patterns (Ivanisevic et al 2011b). However, metabolomics doesn't match necessarily bioactivity assessment.…”