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Amino acids in the octocoral Veretillum cynomorium: the effect of seasonality and differences from scleractinian hexacorals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2012

Miguel Baptista ,
Ana Luísa Maulvault ,
Katja Trübenbach ,
Luis Narciso ,
António Marques  and
Rui Rosa
Miguel Baptista*
Affiliation:
Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal
Ana Luísa Maulvault
Affiliation:
Unidade de Valorização de Produtos da Pesca e Aquicultura, IPIMAR, Avenida de Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal
Katja Trübenbach
Affiliation:
Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal
Luis Narciso
Affiliation:
Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal
António Marques
Affiliation:
Unidade de Valorização de Produtos da Pesca e Aquicultura, IPIMAR, Avenida de Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal
Rui Rosa
Affiliation:
Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M. Baptista, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal email: miguelnogueirabaptista@gmail.com
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Abstract

The majority of biochemical studies in corals has been focused on the lipidic composition and little attention has been given to the amino acid profile of these invertebrates. The objectives of this work were to investigate, for the first time, the temporal variations in the total amino acid (AA) composition of an octocoral, namely the sea pen Veretillum cynomorium, and to evaluate possible interspecific differences in AA profile between this octocoral and hexacorals. The quantitatively most important AAs in V. cynomorium colonies were: glutamic acid, varying from 3.92 to 5.94% dry weight (dw) and representing around 14–15% of total AA content; aspartic acid (3.34–4.99% dw; 11–12%); and glycine (2.87–4.57% dw; 9–12%). On the other hand, the minor AAs were methionine (0.41–0.73% dw; 1–2%) and histidine (0.54–0.76% dw; 2%). Almost all AAs showed the same significant seasonal variations, with the highest values in February, second highest in October and the lowest in June. Some AAs, namely lysine, phenylalanine and methionine did not follow this trend and showed the major peak in October. Most of the AA variations seemed to be linked to changes in food availability and/or gametogenesis. Principal component analysis clearly separated the octocoral from the group of hexacorals, mainly due to the higher percentages of arginine, tyrosine and glycine in V. cynomorium, and valine, serine, histidine, isoleucine and alanine in hexacorallia species. We speculate that this differentiation possibly derived from physiological differences related to phylogeny, and was not affected by reproductive or environmental seasonality.

Keywords

amino acidsOctocoralliaPennatulaceareproductionVeretillum cynomorium
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 4 , June 2013 , pp. 913 - 918
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012 

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