Meeting Abstract

P2.96  Jan. 5  Purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, on the Californian Central Coast contain mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) CHANG, Lindsay/E*; ADAMS, Nikki/E; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo nadams@calpoly.edu

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are natural sunscreens found in many marine organisms. Some marine organisms, including sea urchins, acquire MAAs through consumption of macroalgae and sequester them in their gonads and gametes. MAAs are produced in red algae in San Luis Obispo, CA and are potentially eaten by local sea urchins. The aim of this study was to determine whether purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus on the Californian central coast have MAAs in their ovaries or testes. We compared concentrations of MAAs in gonads of sea urchins from three rocky intertidal sites using high performance liquid chromatography of methanolic extracts of gonads. Three specific MAAs (shinorine, porphyra-334 and palythine) are present in ovaries and testes of S. purpuratus, but there was no significant difference in total MAA, shinorine (abs max=334) or palythine (abs max=320) concentrations of gonads among field sites or sexes and there was no interaction between sex and site for any MAA (P>0.05). Nevertheless, there were generally higher concentrations of shinorine in ovaries. There were significantly higher concentrations of porphyra-334 (abs max=334) in ovaries (P=0.034), but no difference in porphyra-334 by site. Individual and total MAA concentrations of gonads were highly variable and ranged from 0 to 7.36 nmol/mg dry wt., indicating that there may be some effect of microhabitat or proximity to specific types of algae that determines whether sea urchins acquire MAAs and whether eggs and embryos are protected against UVR damage. These data also indicate that some S. purpuratus, eggs contain potential photobiochemical defenses against ultraviolet radiation.