Stress response of the coral Stylophora pistillata towards possible anthropogenic impacts in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Coral deterioration is often linked with coastal pollution. This aimed to study biochemical stress responses in the common coral Stylophora pistillata collected and/or planted in coastal sites subject to pollution and sites without pollution in the Gulf of Aqaba. DNA damage and lipid peroxidation were analyzed to measure stress in corals. High DNA damage was found in natural corals from polluted sites, while higher lipid peroxidation was found in control site compared with polluted sites. Lipid peroxidation was higher in polluted sites after one-year of deployment. Corals’ incubations with copper and lead produced high levels of DNA damage and lipid peroxidation compared with control samples. The results suggested that although corals are visually looking healthy, but they are suffering at subcellular levels. The consequences of such stress might affect the fecundity and growth rates of corals. The results suggest that biomarkers used are efficient tools for early stress detection in corals, though the cost of assessing DNA damage is relatively expensive compared with lipid peroxidation.