Publication Date:
2022-11-15
Description:
© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Shero, M. R., Kirkham, A. L., Costa, D. P., & Burns, J. M. Iron mobilization during lactation reduces oxygen stores in a diving mammal. Nature Communications, 13(1), (2022): 4322, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31863-7.
Description:
The profound impacts that maternal provisioning of finite energy resources has on offspring survival have been extensively studied across mammals. This study shows that in addition to calories, high hemoprotein concentrations in diving mammals necessitates exceptional female-to-pup iron transfer. Numerous indices of iron mobilization (ferritin, serum iron, total-iron-binding-capacity, transferrin saturation) were significantly elevated during lactation in adult female Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), but not in skip-breeders. Iron was mobilized from endogenous stores for incorporation into the Weddell seal’s milk at concentrations up to 100× higher than terrestrial mammals. Such high rates of iron offload to offspring drew from the female’s own heme stores and led to compromised physiologic dive capacities (hemoglobin, myoglobin, and total body oxygen stores) after weaning their pups, which was further reflected in shorter dive durations. We demonstrate that lactational iron transfer shapes physiologic dive thresholds, identifying a cost of reproduction to a marine mammal.
Description:
This research was conducted with support from NSF ANT-0838892 to DPC; ANT-0838937 and ANT-1246463 to JMB (which also supported ALK and MRS); and The Investment in Science Fund at WHOI to MRS.
Keywords:
Animal physiology
;
Ecophysiology
;
Homeostasis
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Permalink
