Lipidome of the reef-building coral Acropora cerealis: Changes under thermal stress

Coral bleaching is caused by complete or partial loss of coral endosymbionts in response to increased sea surface temperature and solar radiation. A thermal stress leads to formation of reactive oxygen species resulting in a disturbance of coral cell membranes. Lipids are an essential component of cell membranes. The lipidome of the hard coral Acropora cerealis and its alteration under thermal stress were studied. The features of A. cerealis lipids were trace amounts of monoalkyldiacylglycerols, a high content of triacylglycerols with 18:3 and 22:6 fatty acids and a high content of ceramide aminoethylphosphonate. A short-term exposure of coral fragments at 33 degrees C caused significant changes in lipids. Among the storage lipids, the content of triacylglycerols decreased after 12-h exposure. Among the structural lipids, contents of ethanolamine-, choline-, and inositolglycerophospholipids decreased; the most pronounced changes were observed in the composition of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol after 24-h exposure.