Love, Connor R., Stuhr, Marleen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9155-9464, Fox, Michael D., Radice, Veronica Z., Fine, Maoz, McMahon, Kelton W. and Valentine, David L. (2025) Selective nutrient incorporation may underestimate heterotrophy of a mixotrophic reef-building coral. Communications Biology, 8 (1). DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08621-8.

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Abstract

Mixotrophic reef-building corals acquire nutrition via photosynthate translocation from endosymbiotic microalgae and by heterotrophic prey/particle capture. Heterotrophy promotes resistance to, and recovery from, environmental stress, but quantifying coral heterotrophy remains difficult due to complex resource exchanges within the coral holobiont. We interrogated the response of multiple biomarkers to coral heterotrophy using fatty acid profiling and stable isotope analysis of Stylophora pistillata grown along a controlled feeding gradient from pure autotrophy to pure heterotrophy. We found that fatty acids and nitrogen were effectively incorporated into both coral host and symbiont tissues, while carbon, which is the primary target for conventional heterotrophy measurements, was not. Our study underscores a functional purpose of heterotrophy to retain essential elements (e.g., N) and molecules (fatty acids) for mixotrophic corals. Selective nutrient incorporation of heterotrophic material also suggests that coral ecologists are likely underestimating the contribution of heterotrophy to a common reef-building coral using conventional carbon isotope offset approaches.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA4
Research affiliation:	Biogeochemistry and Geology > Geoecology & Carbonate Sedimentology
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	Yes
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08621-8
ISSN:	2399-3642
Date Deposited:	27 Aug 2025 09:00
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2025 09:00
URI:	http://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/5700

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