Coral bleaching is caused by complete or partial loss of coral endosymbionts in response to increased sea surface temperature and solar radiation. A thermal stress leads to formation of reactive oxygen species resulting in a disturbance of coral cell membranes. Lipids are an essential component of cell membranes. The lipidome of the hard coral Acropora cerealis and its alteration under thermal stress were studied. The features of A. cerealis lipids were trace amounts of monoalkyldiacylglycerols, a high content of triacylglycerols with 18:3 and 22:6 fatty acids and а high content of ceramide aminoethylphosphonate. A short-term exposure of coral fragments at 33 °C caused significant changes in lipids. Among the storage lipids, the content of triacylglycerols decreased after 12-h exposure. Among the structural lipids, contents of ethanolamine-, choline-, and inositolglycerophospholipids decreased; the most pronounced changes were observed in the composition of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol after 24-h exposure.

珊瑚白化是由于海面温度升高和太阳辐射增加而使珊瑚内共生子全部或部分丧失而引起的。热应力导致形成活性氧，导致珊瑚细胞膜紊乱。脂质是细胞膜的重要组成部分。研究了硬珊瑚Acropora谷物的脂质组及其在热胁迫下的变化。谷物曲霉的特征脂质是痕量的单烷基二酰基甘油，高含量的具有18：3和22：6脂肪酸的三酰基甘油以及高含量的神经酰胺氨基乙基膦酸酯。33°C下珊瑚碎片的短期暴露引起脂质的显着变化。在贮存脂质中，暴露12h后三酰基甘油的含量降低。在结构脂质中，乙醇胺，胆碱和肌醇甘油磷脂的含量降低。暴露24小时后，磷脂酰乙醇胺和磷脂酰肌醇的组成变化最为明显。