Publication Date:
2020-06-17
Description:
The study revealed species- and stage-specific differences in lipid accumulation
of the dominant Antarctic copepods, the primarily herbivorous Calanoides
acutus (copepodite stage V (CV), females) and the more omnivorous Calanus
propinquus (females) storing wax esters and triacylglycerols, respectively,
which were collected in summer (end of December). Feeding carbon-labelled
diatoms to these copepods, 13C elucidated assimilation and turnover rates of
copepod total lipids as well as specific fatty acids and alcohols. The 13C incorporation
was monitored by compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA).
CV stages of C. acutus exhibited an intense total lipid turnover and 55% of total
lipidswere labelled after 9 days of feeding. By contrast, total lipid assimilation
of female C. acutus and C. propinquus was lower with 29% and 32%, respectively.
The major dietary fatty acids 16:0, 16:1(n − 7) and 20:5(n − 3) had high
turnover rates in all specimens. In C. acutus CV, the high rates of the de novo
synthesized long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids and alcohols 20:1(n − 9)
and 22:1(n − 11) indicate intense lipid deposition, whereas these rates were
low in females. The differences in lipid assimilation and turnover clearly
show that the copepod species exhibit a high variability and plasticity to
adapt their lipid production to their various life phases.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘The next horizons for lipids as
‘trophic biomarkers’: evidence and significance of consumer modification
of dietary fatty acids’.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
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