Experimentally Induced Bleaching in the Sea Anemone Exaiptasia Supports Glucose as a Main Metabolite Associated with Its Symbiosis

Our current understanding of carbon exchange between partners in the Symbiodinium-cnidarian symbioses is still limited, even though studies employing carbon isotopes have made us aware of the metabolic complexity of this exchange. We examined glycerol and glucose metabolism to better understand how photosynthates are exchanged between host and symbiont. The levels of these metabolites were compared between symbiotic and bleached Exaiptasia pallida anemones, assaying enzymes directly involved in their metabolism. We measured a significant decrease of glucose levels in bleached animals but a significant increase in glycerol and G3P pools, suggesting that bleached animals degrade lipids to compensate for the loss of symbionts and seem to rely on symbiotic glucose. The lower glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase but higher glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase specific activities measured in bleached animals agree with a metabolic deficit mainly due to the loss of glucose from the ruptured symbiosis. These results corroborate previous observations on carbon translocation from symbiont to host in the sea anemone Exaiptasia, where glucose was proposed as a main translocated metabolite. To better understand photosynthate translocation and its regulation, additional research with other symbiotic cnidarians is needed, in particular, those with calcium carbonate skeletons.