Comparative lipidomic analysis of phospholipids of hydrocorals and corals from tropical and cold-water regions

To expand our knowledge of lipid and fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis in marine cnidarians, polar lipidomes of hydrocorals were studied for the first time and then compared with those of soft corals from tropical and boreal regions. The structure and content of FAs and molecular species of ethanolamine, choline, serine, and inositol glycerophospholipids (PE, PC, PS, and PI, respectively), and ceramide aminoethylphosphonate (CAEP) in tropical hydrocorals (Millepora platyphylla, M. dichotoma) and the cold-water hydrocoral Allopora steinegeri were determined by chromatography and mass spectrometry. All soft corals and cold-water hydrocorals are characterized by a considerable amount of C(20) polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) elongated into C(22) PUFAs. In the Millepora species, the high level of 22:5n-6 and 22:6n-3 against the background of the extremely low level of C(20) PUFAs may be explained by a high activity of rare Δ4 desaturase. In contrast to hydrocorals, soft corals are able to elongate and further desaturate C(22) PUFAs into C(24) PUFAs. Allopora and soft corals use C(20) PUFAs mainly for the synthesis of PE and PC. The molecular species of PS of soft corals concentrate C(24) PUFAs, while in Allopora and Millepora the PS molecules are mainly based on 22:4n-6 and 22:5n-6 acyl groups, respectively. Short acyl groups (C(14)) dominate the CAEP molecules of Allopora. In all the animals compared, most molecular species of PE and PC are ether lipids, but diacyl molecular species dominate PI. Hydrocorals and tropical soft corals contain diacyl and ether PS molecules, respectively, whereas cold-water soft corals contain a mixture of these PS forms. The high similarity of the alkyl/acyl compositions indicates a possible biosynthetic relationship between PS and PI in hydrocorals. The data obtained in our study will provide a resource to further investigate the lipid metabolism in marine invertebrates.