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Oxidative stress in the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis exposed to CO2-driven seawater acidification

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Abstract

Global impacts are affecting negatively coral reefs’ health worldwide. Ocean acidification associated with the increasing CO2 partial pressure in the atmosphere can potentially induce oxidative stress with consequent cellular damage in corals and hydrocorals. In the present study, parameters related to oxidative status were evaluated in the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis exposed to three different levels of seawater acidification using a mesocosm system. CO2-driven acidification of seawater was performed until reaching 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 pH units below the current pH of seawater pumped from the coral reef adjacent to the mesocosm. Therefore, treatments corresponded to control (pH 8.1), mild (pH 7.8), intermediate (pH 7.5) and severe (pH 7.2) seawater acidification. After 0, 16 and 30 d of exposure, hydrocorals were collected and the following parameters were analyzed in the holobiont: antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP), total glutathione (GSHt) concentration, reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione ratio (GSH/GSSG), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein carbonyl group (PC) levels. ACAP was increased in hydrocorals after 16 d of exposure to intermediate levels of seawater acidification. GSHt and GSH/GSSG did not change over the experimental period. LPO was increased at any level of seawater acidification, while PC content was increased in hydrocorals exposed to intermediate and severe seawater acidification for 30 d. These findings indicate that the antioxidant defense system of M. alcicornis is capable of coping with acidic conditions for a short period of time (16 d). Additionally, they clearly show that a long-term (30 d) exposure to seawater acidification induces oxidative stress with consequent oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, which could compromise hydrocoral health.

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Acknowledgements

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Ottawa, Canada; Grant No. 104519-003), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—Programa Ciências do Mar, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Grant No. 84/2010) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq—Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Toxicologia Aquática, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Grant No. 573949/2008-5) are acknowledged for their financial support. The Coral Vivo Project and its sponsors Petrobras, through the Petrobras Environmental Program, and Arraial d’Ajuda Eco Parque are acknowledged for their support in field research. A. Bianchini (Proc. # 304430/2009-9) and C.B. Castro (Proc. # 303970/2010-3) are research fellows from CNPq. A. Bianchini is supported by the International Canada Research Chair Program (IDRC). D.C. Luz was a graduate fellow from CAPES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Fisiológicas, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Avenida Itália km 8, Campus Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, 96203-900, Brazil

    Débora Camacho Luz & Yuri Dornelles Zebral

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Avenida Itália km 8, Campus Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, 96203-900, Brazil

    Roberta Daniele Klein & Adalto Bianchini

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Avenida Itália km 8, Campus Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, 96203-900, Brazil

    Joseane Aparecida Marques & Laura Fernandes de Barros Marangoni

  4. Instituto Coral Vivo, Rua dos Coqueiros, Parque Yaya, Santa Cruz Cabrália, BA, 45807-000, Brazil

    Joseane Aparecida Marques, Laura Fernandes de Barros Marangoni, Cristiano Macedo Pereira, Débora de Oliveira Pires, Clovis Barreira e Castro, Emiliano Nicolas Calderon & Adalto Bianchini

  5. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Parque Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristovão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 20940-040, Brazil

    Cristiano Macedo Pereira

  6. Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Parque Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristovão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 20940-040, Brazil

    Gustavo Adolpho Santos Duarte, Débora de Oliveira Pires, Clovis Barreira e Castro & Emiliano Nicolas Calderon

  7. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Conservação, Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (NUPEM/UFRJ), Av. São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ, 27965-045, Brazil

    Emiliano Nicolas Calderon

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  1. Débora Camacho Luz
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  2. Yuri Dornelles Zebral
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  3. Roberta Daniele Klein
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  4. Joseane Aparecida Marques
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  6. Cristiano Macedo Pereira
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  7. Gustavo Adolpho Santos Duarte
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  8. Débora de Oliveira Pires
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  9. Clovis Barreira e Castro
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  10. Emiliano Nicolas Calderon
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  11. Adalto Bianchini
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Correspondence to Adalto Bianchini.

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Luz, D.C., Zebral, Y.D., Klein, R.D. et al. Oxidative stress in the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis exposed to CO2-driven seawater acidification. Coral Reefs 37, 571–579 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-018-1681-2

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