Oxygen deficiency (hypoxia and anoxia) is an emerging concern in estuarine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Previous studies on Mollusca Cephalopoda have focused on the effects of hypoxia stress on physiological performance and survival, but there are few reports on the molecular mechanism, and the application of metabolomics in cephalopods remains unknown. In this study, a 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) based metabolomics approach was applied to investigate the metabolites profiles of Sepia pharaonis (Ehrenberg, 1831) during hypoxia and post-anoxia recovery. The results revealed that obvious tissue-specific metabolic responses were induced by hypoxia stresses. Hypoxia exposure influenced the levels of many metabolites (e.g. BCAAs, lactate, and betaine strongly accumulated in the hepatic tissue while arginine and ATP significantly reduced; lactate and adenosine significantly increased in gills whereas arginine and choline significantly decreased; GABA, taurine and adenosine levels increased in brain but a significant depletion of N-Acetylaspartate and glycogen was found), disturbed energy and amino acid metabolism, and broke the balance of neurotransmitters and osmoregulators. Notably, almost all metabolites returned to pre-exposure levels after acute hypoxia recovery. However, we noted a pronounced depletion of the amino acid pool (arginine, glutamine, and alanine) in hepatic and gills after recovery, as well as organic osmolytes fluctuations (choline, betaine, and taurine). This work highlights the potential of metabolomics methods to elucidate the response of cuttlefish to hypoxia stress, as well as to provide knowledge on metabolic changes in cephalopods under the influences of environmental stress.
Keywords: Cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis); Hypoxia stresses; Metabolomics; Post-anoxia recovery; Tissue-specific.
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