Biochemical metabolomic profiling of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster): New insight into its biology for improved pest management

This dataset captures the first comprehensive metabolite and lipid profiles of Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) tissues, a species whose outbreaks pose a major threat to coral reefs. Understanding the chemical biology of COTS is critical because these molecules underpin reproduction, defence, and other processes that could be targeted for population control, making the dataset highly valuable for reef-management research and biocontrol development.Specimens were collected from Wheeler Reef in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR Wheeler Reef (-18.800 S, 147.521) ) in October 2021 under Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Permit G21/38062.1. Ten distinct COTS tissues including pyloric stomach, pyloric caeca, spines, eyes, skin, sensory tentacles, vertebrae, tube feet, radial nerve, gonads, and eggs were dissected and chemically analysed.The chemical data were collected to characterise baseline metabolite, lipid, and asterosaponin composition across the tissues and to identify tissue-specific chemical signatures that may influence COTS reproduction, defence, and vulnerability. This information supports the search for novel control strategies such as chemotaxis-based biocontrol and the potential commercial use of bioactive compounds found in COTS.Data acquisition involved targeted and untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics using mass spectrometry to generate high-resolution profiles of small molecules and lipids. This approach enabled the identification of 410 metabolites and 367 lipids, including defensive saponins, reproductive asterosaponins, and abundant metabolites such as inosine and 2-hexyldecanoic acid.Data interpretation focuses on comparing chemical profiles across tissues to reveal spatial patterns in metabolites, lipids, and asterosaponins. These patterns provide insight into tissue-specific biological functions—such as defence, reproduction, and structural biochemistry—and highlight molecular targets that could be manipulated to reduce COTS populations. The raw dataset is stored at CSIRO.

本数据集首次全面记录了长棘海星（Crown-of-thorns starfish, COTS）组织的代谢组与脂质组谱图。长棘海星暴发对珊瑚礁构成重大威胁，阐明其化学生物学特征至关重要：其体内的分子基础支撑了繁殖、防御等生命过程，可作为种群防控的靶向靶点，因此本数据集对珊瑚礁管理研究与生物防控开发具有极高价值。

2021年10月，研究人员依据《大堡礁海洋公园管理局许可G21/38062.1》，从大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef, GBR）的惠勒礁（Wheeler Reef，坐标-18.800 S, 147.521）采集长棘海星样本。研究人员对10种不同的长棘海星组织进行了解剖并开展化学分析，涵盖幽门胃、幽门盲囊、棘、眼、皮肤、感官触手、体椎、管足、辐神经、性腺及卵。

本次化学数据采集旨在刻画各组织的基础代谢物、脂质及海星皂苷（asterosaponin）组成，同时鉴定可能影响长棘海星繁殖、防御与易感性的组织特异性化学特征。该成果可为探索新型防控策略（如基于趋化性（chemotaxis）的生物防控（biocontrol）），以及开发长棘海星中活性生物化合物的潜在商业用途提供支撑。

数据采集采用靶向与非靶向代谢组学（metabolomics）、脂质组学（lipidomics）技术，结合质谱（mass spectrometry）分析生成小分子与脂质的高分辨率谱图。依托该方法，共鉴定出410种代谢物与367种脂质，包括防御性皂苷、繁殖相关海星皂苷，以及肌苷（inosine）、2-己基癸酸（2-hexyldecanoic acid）等丰度较高的代谢物。

数据解读工作聚焦于比较不同组织的化学谱图，以揭示代谢物、脂质与海星皂苷的空间分布模式。此类模式可帮助解析组织特异性生物学功能（如防御、繁殖与结构生物化学过程），并明确可用于调控长棘海星种群的分子靶点。原始数据集存储于CSIRO。