ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Aquatic Physiology
Coral larval proteomics at onset of metamorphosis highlights innate immunity maturation in parallel to neuro-sensing and skeletal development.
Provisionally accepted
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
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Coral larval metamorphosis is a critical life cycle transition from swimming planula to benthic polyp, key for reproductive success and survival of reef populations. The larval physiological processes involved during this transition are relatively unknown, in the absence of exogenous microbial induction. Here the identity and abundance of coral proteins detected at onset of metamorphosis (swimming planula to 'settler' stages) was investigated using planulae released from 4 distinct brooding Pocillopora acuta coral colonies, to consider maternal carry-over effects on the variability of larval proteomes. NanoLC-MS/MS data analysis identified a total of 5570 coral proteins, of which 1119 occurred only either in planula or settler. Label-free quantification revealed 102 differentially enriched proteins (DEPs, log2 fold change > |2| p-value < 0.05), categorized into 7 predicted functional groups: adhesion and cytoskeleton remodeling, neuro-sensing, biocalcification toolkit, metabolism, morphogenesis, innate immunity, and antioxidant stress defense. Additionally, 98 unique proteins and 25 DEPs were quantified in the planula aboral vs oral pole, consistent with the presence of specialized aboral cell types involved in sensing of environmental cues. These results reveal the activation of coral innate immunity at initiation of larval metamorphosis, and provide better knowledge of coral settlement physiology, with potential future ecological applications.
Keywords: coral, larval settlement, Mass Spectrometry, metamorphosis, Pocillopora acuta, Proteomics
Received: 08 Dec 2025; Accepted: 23 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Djamaa, Marie, Paris, Zirah and Domart-Coulon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Soheib Djamaa
Isabelle Domart-Coulon
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