利用差异代谢组学分析寻找海洋防污天然小分子

The potential presence of small metabolites that can repel the larvae of fouling organisms in the biofilm of the coating surface with good anti-fouling performance is worth exploring. In this study, six kinds of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and chlorinated rubber anti-rust paint were used to prepare composite antifouling coatings. Two groups of coatings were found: group 1 with high anti-fouling scores and group 2 with low ones. The two groups of early fouling biofilm samples were collected and subjected to GC-MS and LC-MS/MS non-targeted metabolomics analyses. Forty-three metabolites that had significantly higher concentrations in group 1 than in group 2 were discovered. These metabolites are involved mainly in the β-alanine, phenylalanine, pyrimidine, arginine, and proline metabolism pathways. Five of them (carnosine, 1-hexadecanol, N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine, spermidine, and glutaric acid) were added to group 2 coatings in a panel hanging test, but these did not significantly improve the anti-fouling performance. However, we found five molecules (A: D-glucose; B: glycine; C: L-alanine; D: chitosan; and E: Azithromycin dihydrate) that were deficient in the metabolome data of several main fouling organisms (barnacle, oyster, ascidean, mussel, bryozoan, and tube worm) and improved antifouling performance when added to the control coatings. The inhibitory rates of CD, E, and ACD were 61.91%, 58.41%, and 54.12%, respectively. Finding novel anti-fouling reagents from low-concentration metabolites in macrobiofouler metabolomes based on differential metabolomics is therefore feasible.