Polar herbivorous copepods - different pathways in lipid biosynthesis
Herbivorous copepods, especially from polar regions, buffer the pronounced seasonality of primary production through the accumulation of large energy reserves that are deposited as neutral lipids, mainly wax esters but also triacylglycerols. Principal components of these lipids are the long-chain mo...
| Published in: | ICES Journal of Marine Science |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
1995
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/52/3-4/329 https://doi.org/10.1016/1054-3139(95)80048-4 |
| Summary: | Herbivorous copepods, especially from polar regions, buffer the pronounced seasonality of primary production through the accumulation of large energy reserves that are deposited as neutral lipids, mainly wax esters but also triacylglycerols. Principal components of these lipids are the long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids and alcohols 20:1(n−9) and 22:1(n−11). Wax ester synthesis based on these compounds is most pronounced in the Arctic copepod, Calanus hyperboreus, but it is also characteristic of the other dominant herbivores, Calanus glacialis and Calanus finmarchicus , as well as for the Antarctic Calanoides acutus . Rhincalanus gigas , another Antarctic species, also fits this scheme of wax ester synthesizers, although its wax esters consist of shorter-chain fatty acids and alcohols. In contrast, the Antarctic Calanus propinguus synthesizes triacylglycerols dominated by the two monounsaturated fatty acid isomers 22: 1(n−11) and 22: 1(n−9). This further elongation of the fatty acids increases their calorific value and may at least partially compensate this species' apparent inability to produce wax esters. Other dominant fatty acids in the lipids of these copepods originate from dietary input and may be used as trophic markers for herbivorous feeding. |
|---|