Discovery of an arachidonic acid C-8 lipoxygenase in the gorgonian coral Pseudoplexaura porosa

The gorgonian coral Pseudoplexaura porosa contains a lipoxygenase capable of converting exogenous arachidonic acid into (8R)-8-hydroperoxy-5,9,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid. The (8R)- (or 8-L-) configuration in this product, opposite to that observed in previously reported 8-lipoxygenase products, was determined unambiguously by comparison of oxidative ozonolysis fragments with authentic malic acid-derived standards. Extracts from the coral contained no detectable prostaglandins (PGAs, PGBs, PGEs, or PGFs). Although arachidonic acid represents one of the most abundant of the common fatty acids found in the phospholipid and total lipid fractions of P. porosa, products ascribable to the arachidonic acid 8-lipoxygenase pathway ((8R)-8-hydroperoxy-5,9,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, the corresponding alcohol 8-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, further transformation products) have not yet been identified in the coral extracts. The physiological significance of the 8-lipoxygenase in this species remains a matter for speculation.