Evaluation of Sample Preparation Methods for the Analysis of Reef-Building Corals Using ¹H-NMR-Based Metabolomics.

The field of metabolomics generally lacks standardized methods for the preparation of samples prior to analysis. This is especially true for metabolomics of reef-building corals, where the handful of studies that were published employ a range of sample preparation protocols. The utilization of metabolomics may prove essential in understanding coral biology in the face of increasing environmental threats, and an optimized method for preparing coral samples for metabolomics analysis would aid this cause.

Correction: Can excreted thiocyanate be used to detect cyanide exposure in live reef fish?

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Can excreted thiocyanate be used to detect cyanide exposure in live reef fish?

Cyanide fishing, where a solution of sodium or potassium cyanide is used to stun reef fish for easy capture for the marine aquarium and live fish food trades, continues to be pervasive despite being illegal in many countries and destructive to coral reef ecosystems. Currently, there is no easy, reliable and universally accepted method to detect if a fish has been exposed to cyanide during the capture process. A promising non-invasive technique for detecting thiocyanate ions, the metabolic byproduct excreted by exposed fish, has been reported in the literature.