Lake Michigan sponge phosphatic metabolite variations with habitat: a P-31nuclear magnetic resonance study

The P-31 NMR phosphatic profile of the sponge Eunapius fragilis differs con siderably from profiles obtained from vertebrate tissues: phosphonic acids, glycan phosphates, and phosphoarginine are present in the sponge profile. Ethanolamine phosphate, a family of phosphodiesters, dinucleotides, and a f amily of pyrimidine-nucleotide-activated co-factors are elevated, while nuc leoside monophosphates, inorganic orthophosphate, and nucleoside triphospha tes are diminished with respect to vertebrate tissues. The profile contains 26 different phosphatic metabolite resonance bands, and all but one of the se (phosphonates) can be used to differentiate among three southern Lake Mi chigan sponge habitats examined: a coastal lagoon; the shipwreck of the Mat erial Service Barge in the open waters of Lake Michigan; and an industrial section of the Calumet River. The quantitative phosphatic metabolite concen tration data, in conjunction with numerical indexes derived therefrom, demo nstrate that, in analogy to sponge phospholipid profiling, P-31 NMR phospha tic metabolites can be utilized to distinguish among habitats using a singl e species as a bioindicator. For the sponge, energy reserves are concentrat ed in nucleotide co-factors rather than nucleoside triphosphates. High conc entrations of ethanolamine and choline phosphate intermediates are present suggesting that metabolic pathways leading to phospholipid biosynthesis are primed for rapid membrane biosynthesis leading to subsequent sponge growth . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.