Abstract
Reef-building corals belonging to genus Acropora are essential for the Indo-Pacific reef ecosystems. Lipids in corals provide highly dense forms of energy for reef communities through coral mucus, and the amount of these lipids is affected by environmental threats such as climate changes. In this study, we analyzed the lipid contents of the eggs and sperm of Acropora tenuis and calculated the amount of each lipid class and fatty acid levels. We focused on the major phospholipid, namely phosphatidylcholine (PC), and investigated its molecular species composition. We performed mass spectrometry imaging to visualize molecular distribution in a bundle. We clearly demonstrated that PC compositions of eggs and sperm were completely different. Fatty acid analyses showed that n-3 fatty acids were enriched in the sperm, and eicosapentaenoic acid-conjugated PCs were predominantly localized as a bundle in the sperm. This approach is a promising strategy for analyzing bundle conditions.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 21H03330 to NGI and 21H04742 to HY.
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Naoko Goto-Inoue and Hiroshi Yamashita contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection and analysis were performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Naoko Goto-Inoue, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Goto-Inoue, N., Kimura, K., Sasaki, S. et al. Different lipid compositions and their specific localization in the eggs and sperm of Acropora tenuis. Coral Reefs 42, 497–506 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-023-02360-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-023-02360-0