HR: 1340h
AN: PP43B-1287    [Abstracts]
TI: Lipid biomarkers of thermal stress in scleractinian corals
AU: * Kneeland, J M
EM: jkneeland@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543,
AU: Hughen, K
EM: khughen@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543,
AU: Cervino, J
EM: jcervino@pace.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543,
AU: Cervino, J
EM: jcervino@pace.edu
AF: Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038,
AU: Eglinton, T I
EM: teglinton@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543,
AU: Bartels, E
EM: ebartels@mote.org
AF: Mote Marine Laboratory, 24244 Overseas Highway, Summerland Key, FL 33042,
AB: Lipid content and fatty acid profiles of corals and their symbiotic dinoflagellates are known to vary in response to heat stress and bleaching. To develop lipid biomarkers of heat stress and bleaching response in scleractinian corals, clones of Symbiodinium algae of clade subtypes C1 and D1 were cultured under a range of temperatures. The predominant lipids produced are palmitic (C16) and stearic (C18) saturated fatty acids and their unsaturated analogs. Other important compounds included a C22 penta-unsaturated fatty acid, which is thought to be a specific dinoflagellate marker, and a variety of sterols. Analysis of lipids extracted from coral skeleton indicated that palmitic and stearic acids were the most abundant compounds. The amount of unsaturated C16 and C18 fatty acids in coral skeleton relative to the saturated versions of those acids was much lower in coral skeleton than in the zooxanthellae tissue. This could indicate the incorporation of lipids from outside the coral host-symbiont system into the coral aragonite, or it could reflect diagenesis. A comparison between the lipids found in cloned zooxanthellae, coral tissue, and aragonitic skeleton will be presented to assess the usefulness of lipid biomarkers as indicators of temperature stress on corals.
DE: 0424 Biosignatures and proxies
DE: 1050 Marine geochemistry (4835, 4845, 4850)
DE: 4850 Marine organic chemistry (0470, 1050)
DE: 4916 Corals (4220)
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting