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The effect of light and heterotrophy on carotenoid concentrations in the Caribbean anemone Aiptasia pallida (Verrill)

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Abstract

One of the consequences of ultraviolet radiation exposure in anthozoans possessing photosynthetic endosymbionts (i.e., zooxanthellae) is production of reactive oxygen species that can damage cellular components, especially lipids and photosynthetic membranes. It is well known that carotenoids are potent antioxidants that can mitigate oxygen radical damage, but the origin of these compounds in zooxanthellate anthozoans is obscured because they can potentially originate from endosymbionts, heterotrophic feeding by the host, or a combination thereof. We used Aiptasia pallida, a common Caribbean anemone, to investigate the effects of exogenous food sources, ultraviolet-A radiation (UVA, 320–400 nm), and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400–700 nm) on carotenoid levels in zooxanthellate anthozoans. Anemones were exposed to one of three simulated light treatments in the laboratory for 38 days: PAR (60% below ambient)/UVA (similar to ambient), PAR/low UVA (42% below ambient), and low PAR (98.4% below ambient)/no UVA. In addition, anemones were either fed a carotenoid-rich diet of Artemia salina nauplii, or starved. Carotenoids identified in A. pallida included peridinin, diadinoxanthin, diatoxanthin and β-carotene. While a diet of Ar. salina nauplii had no effect on the carotenoid composition of A. pallida, a two-way analysis of variance revealed that anemones exposed to ambient UVA levels had significantly greater diatoxanthin concentrations relative to the total xanthophyll pool [diato:(diato+diadino)] after 10 days of exposure. This difference among treatments was not present at 20 days, but reappeared as an effect due to starvation rather than UVA at days 30 and 38. These results suggest that carotenoids in A. pallida are not influenced by exogenous feeding and that photoprotective xanthophyll cycling is sensitive to stresses such as UVA and starvation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Chandler, G. Chilcoat, J.B. Claiborne, C. Cook, P. Doukakis, W.K. Fitt, A.W. Harvey, I. Kuffner, T. Prude, S. Schopmeyer, S. Tso, M. Warner and L. Wolfe for technical assistance and advice. Additionally, we thank the Key Largo Marine Research Station and Long Key Marine Laboratory for collection of research specimens. This study was funded by grants to K.M. from Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research, the Georgia Southern University Graduate Student Professional Development Research Fund, the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology at Georgia Southern University and a grant to D.G. from the National Undersea Research Program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (#2000–9921B).

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  1. Kenyon B. Mobley

    Present address: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0230, USA

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  1. Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8042, USA

    Kenyon B. Mobley & Daniel F. Gleason

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Correspondence to Kenyon B. Mobley.

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Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin

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Mobley, K.B., Gleason, D.F. The effect of light and heterotrophy on carotenoid concentrations in the Caribbean anemone Aiptasia pallida (Verrill). Marine Biology 143, 629–637 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1123-7

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