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Characterization and role of carbonic anhydrase in the calcification process of the azooxanthellate coral Tubastrea aurea

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Abstract

In zooxanthellate corals, the photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide and the precipitation of CaCO3 are intimately linked both spatially and temporally making it difficult to study carbon transport mechanisms involved in each pathway. When studying Tubastrea aurea, a coral devoid of zooxanthellae, we can focus on carbon transport mechanisms involved only in the calcification process. We performed this study to characterize T. aurea carbonic anhydrase and to determine its role in the calcification process. We have shown that inhibition of tissular carbonic anhydrase activity affects the calcification rate. We have measured the activity of this enzyme both in the tissues and in the organix matrix extracted from the skeleton. Our results indicate that organic matrix proteins, which are synthesized by the calcifying tissues, are not only structural proteins, but they also play a crucial catalytic role by eliminating the kinetic barrier to interconversion of inorganic carbon at the calcification site. By immunochemistry we have demonstrated the presence of a protein both in the tissues and in the organic matrix, which shares common features with prokaryotic carbonic anhydrases.

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Abbreviations

CA:

Carbonic anhydrase

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

DIC:

Dissolved inorganic carbon

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetate

FSW:

Filtered seawater

PBS:

Phosphate buffered saline

PAF:

Paraformaldehyde

PIC:

Protease inhibitor cocktail

RT:

Room temperature

SOM:

Soluble organic matrix

SDS:

Sodium dodecyl sulphate

TBS:

Tris buffered saline

DIC:

Dissolved inorganic carbon

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. François Morel from Princeton University and Mak Saïto from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for providing the antibody, anti-β-carbonic anhydrase from Synecchococcus sp. This study was conducted as part of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco 2000–2004 research program. It was supported by the Government of the Principality of Monaco and by the California Institute of Technology, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Scientifique de Monaco, av. Saint Martin, MC, 98 000, Monaco

    Sylvie Tambutté, Eric Tambutté, Didier Zoccola, Natacha Caminiti, Severine Lotto, Aurélie Moya & Denis Allemand

  2. Department of Geology and Planetary Sciences, MS100-23, Caltech, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    Jess Adkins

  3. UMR 1112 UNSA-INRA Faculté des Sciences, Parc Valrose, B.P.71, 06108, Nice Cedex 2, France

    Denis Allemand

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  1. Sylvie Tambutté
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  2. Eric Tambutté
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  4. Natacha Caminiti
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  8. Jess Adkins
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Correspondence to Sylvie Tambutté.

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Communicated by S.A. Poulet, Roscoff.

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Tambutté, S., Tambutté, E., Zoccola, D. et al. Characterization and role of carbonic anhydrase in the calcification process of the azooxanthellate coral Tubastrea aurea . Mar Biol 151, 71–83 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0452-8

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