Stony corals form the foundation of coral reefs. A robust workflow for investigating the coral proteome is essential in understanding coral biology. The research team found that a combination of bead homogenization with suspension trapping preparation could yield more than 2,700 proteins from stony coral samples. Additionally, this method achieved good reproducibility in quantitative analysis, and obtained efficient characterization in coral host proteomic landscape, providing a foundation to explore the molecular basis of the responses of coral host to environmental stressors.

Ma, H., Liao, H., Dellisanti, W., Sun, Y., Chan, L. L., & Zhang, L. (2021). Characterizing the Host Coral Proteome of Platygyra carnosa Using Suspension Trapping (S-Trap). Journal of Proteome Research, 20(3), 1783–1791. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00812

The research team conducted target and non-target screening of PFASs in marine mammals in the South China Sea, stranded between 2012 and 2018. Significant increasing temporal trends were found in concentrations of some emerging PFASs. 44 PFASs were additionally identified by non-target screening, among which 15 compounds were reported for the first time in marine mammals. A primary risk assessment showed that 6:2 Cl-PFESA might pose adverse impact on reproduction of the marine mammals.

Wang, Q., Ruan, Y., Jin, L., Zhang, X., Li, J., He, Y., Wei, S., Lam, J., & Lam, P. (2021). Target, Nontarget, and Suspect Screening and Temporal Trends of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Marine Mammals from the South China Sea. Environmental science & technology, 55(2), 1045–1056. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c06685

A novel biosensor for detecting zinc (Zn) in ocean was established, based on the autofluorescence intensity of an adenine deficient yeast (Ade(-) yeast). This biosensor could detect Zn²⁺ at ultralow concentration (0.01 μM) and accurately quantify the extracellular concentration of Zn²⁺ ranging from 0.01 to 0.5μM. High tolerance of Ade(-) yeast to salinity, pH variation and other metals enabled its application in complex marine environments.

Zn²⁺ directed recession of red pigment in Ade(-) yeast. a, Growth curve of yeast W303 (in YPD broth, 30 ^◦C, 200 rpm). b, Pathways involved in the production of adenine. c, Intracellular distribution of the overproduced fluorescence substance. Scale bar: 5 μm. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.) 

Sun, A., & Wang, W. X. (2021). Adenine deficient yeast: A fluorescent biosensor for the detection of Labile Zn(II) in aqueous solution. Biosensors & bioelectronics, 179, 113075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2021.113075