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Glutathione S-Transferase and Catalase Activities in Scleractinian
Coral as Biomarkers towards Stress Condition
Nur Atiqah binti Maznan
Supervisor: Dr. Siti Nurtahirah binti Ja’afar
Bachelor of Sciences (Marine Biology)
School Of Marine and Environmental Science
Scleractinian coral experience in declining populations worldwide responding to
multiple stressors which minimize the resilience of the coral reef. Stressors will
cause overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and result in oxidative
stress. Thus, the response of antioxidant enzymes; glutathione-S-transferase
(GST) and catalase (CAT) are being evaluated as biomarkers in two species,
Acropora robusta and Acropora florida collected from three different sites in
Pulau Bidong. GST activities showed significant difference for all interactions (p
< 0.05) between species and sites. However, the result contradicted for CAT
activities. CAT indicated no statistical differences (p > 0.05) on the activity
between sites and species. Results suggest that the highest antioxidant
enzymes activities particularly GST’s are responding to stress condition which
indicates the action of defense mechanism in coral tissues. This may emphasize
on the resilience of the coral reef area in Pulau Bidong and prediction of
changes later in future.
1804 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018