Selective Fatty Acid Retention and Turnover in the Freshwater Amphipod Pallaseopsis quadrispinosa

Gammarid amphipods are a crucial link connecting primary producers with secondary consumers, but little is known about their nutritional ecology. Here we asked how starvation and subsequent feeding on different nutritional quality algae influences fatty acid retention, compound-specific isotopic carbon fractionation, and biosynthesis of ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the relict gammarid amphipod Pallaseopsis quadrispinosa. The fatty acid profiles of P. quadrispinosa closely matched with those of the dietary green algae after only seven days of refeeding, whereas fatty acid patterns of P. quadrispinosa were less consistent with those of the diatom diet. This was mainly due to P. quadrispinosa suffering energy limitation in the diatom treatment which initiated the metabolization of 16:1ω7 and partly 18:1ω9 for energy, but retained high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) similar to those found in wild-caught organisms. Moreover, α-linolenic acid (ALA) from green algae was mainly stored and not allocated to membranes at high levels nor biosynthesized to EPA. The arachidonic acid (ARA) content in membrane was much lower than EPA and P. quadrispinosa was able to biosynthesize long-chain ω-6 PUFA from linoleic acid (LA). Our experiment revealed that diet quality has a great impact on fatty acid biosynthesis, retention and turnover in this consumer

Selective Fatty Acid Retention and Turnover in the Freshwater Amphipod Pallaseopsis quadrispinosa

Gammarid amphipods are a crucial link connecting primary producers with secondary consumers, but little is known about their nutritional ecology. Here we asked how starvation and subsequent feeding on different nutritional quality algae influences fatty acid retention, compound-specific isotopic carbon fractionation, and biosynthesis of ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the relict gammarid amphipod Pallaseopsis quadrispinosa. The fatty acid profiles of P. quadrispinosa closely matched with those of the dietary green algae after only seven days of refeeding, whereas fatty acid patterns of P. quadrispinosa were less consistent with those of the diatom diet. This was mainly due to P. quadrispinosa suffering energy limitation in the diatom treatment which initiated the metabolization of 16:1ω7 and partly 18:1ω9 for energy, but retained high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) similar to those found in wild-caught organisms. Moreover, α-linolenic acid (ALA) from green algae was mainly stored and not allocated to membranes at high levels nor biosynthesized to EPA. The arachidonic acid (ARA) content in membrane was much lower than EPA and P. quadrispinosa was able to biosynthesize long-chain ω-6 PUFA from linoleic acid (LA). Our experiment revealed that diet quality has a great impact on fatty acid biosynthesis, retention and turnover in this consumer

Docosahexaenoic acid in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus): The importance of dietary supply and physiological response during the entire growth period

The aim of this 14-month feeding study was to investigate the effects of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on tissue fatty acid composition, DHA retention and DHA content per biomass accrual in muscle tissues of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). A control feed, formulated with a relatively high DHA inclusion level (F1), was compared with feeds containing gradually reduced amounts of DHA (Feeds F2, F3, and F4). Arctic charr were randomly distributed among 12 tanks and fed one of the feeds in triplicate. The DHA content within muscle tissues of fish fed diets F1 and F2 was generally higher compared to fish fed diets F3 and F4. However, there was an interaction between dietary DHA treatment and season, which resulted in fish muscle tissues having similar DHA contents irrespective of dietary supply during specific sampling periods. Although diets F3 and F4 contained ~4-fold less DHA compared to diets F1 and F2, retention of DHA in dorsal and ventral muscle tissue was up to 5-fold higher relative to the diet content in fish fed diets F3 and F4. However, the difference among treatments was dependent on the month sampled. In addition, younger fish retained DHA more efficiently compared to older fish. DHA (µg DHA/g/day) accrual in muscle tissue was independent of somatic growth, and there was no difference among treatments. The results suggested that dietary DHA may be essential throughout the lifecycle of Arctic charr and that the DHA content of muscle tissues was influenced by diet and metabolic/physiological factors, such as specific DHA retention during the entire growth cycle . Finally, this long-term feeding study in Arctic charr indicated a non-linear function in DHA retention in dorsal and ventral muscle tissues throughout the lifecycle, which varied in its relationship to dietary DHA

Mass Flux Calculations Show Strong Allochthonous Support of Freshwater Zooplankton Production Is Unlikely

Many studies have concluded terrestrial carbon inputs contribute 20–70% of the carbon supporting zooplankton and fish production in lakes. Conversely, it is also known that terrestrial carbon inputs are of very low nutritional quality and phytoplankton are strongly preferentially utilized by zooplankton. Because of its low quality, substantial terrestrial support of zooplankton production in lakes is only conceivable when terrigenous organic matter inputs are much larger than algal production. We conducted a quantitative analysis of terrestrial carbon mass influx and algal primary production estimates for oligo/mesotrophic lakes (i.e., TP≤20 µg L−1). In keeping with the principle of mass conservation, only the flux of terrestrial carbon retained within lakes can be utilized by zooplankton. Our field data compilation showed the median (inter-quartile range) terrestrial particulate organic carbon (t-POC), available dissolved organic carbon (t-DOC) inputs, and in-lake bacterial and algal production were 11 (8–17), 34 (11–78), 74 (37–165), and 253 (115–546) mg C m−2 d−1, respectively. Despite the widespread view that terrestrial inputs dominate the carbon flux of many lakes, our analysis indicates algal production is a factor 4–7 greater than the available flux of allochthonous basal resources in low productivity lakes. Lakes with high loading of t-DOC also have high hydraulic flushing rates. Because t-DOC is processed, i.e., mineralized or lost to the sediments, in lakes at ≈0.1% d−1, in systems with the highest t-DOC inputs (i.e., 1000 mg m−2 d−1) a median of 98% of the t-DOC flux is advected and therefore is not available to support zooplankton production. Further, advection is the primary fate of t-DOC in lakes with hydraulic retention times <3 years. When taking into account the availability and quality of terrestrial and autochthonous fluxes, this analysis indicates ≈95–99% of aquatic herbivore production is supported by in-lake primary production

Effect of partial replacement of dietary fish meal and oil by pumpkin kernel cake and rapeseed oil on fatty acid composition and metabolism in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)

The aim of this 15-month feeding study was to investigate the effects of more sustainable feeds on specific growth rate, fatty acid composition and metabolism of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). A control feed, formulated with fish meal and fish oil (F1), was compared with feeds where the marine ingredients were increasingly replaced by pumpkin kernel cake and rapeseed oil (Feeds F2, F3, and F4). Arctic charr were randomly distributed into 12 tanks and fed one of the feeds in triplicate. The biomass of fish fed F1 and F2 diets was significantly higher compared to fish fed diet F4 with highest replacement level. However, the dorsal and ventral muscle tissues had very similar total saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents, irrespective of dietary supply. Although diets F3 and F4 contained 6-fold less fish oil than diets F1 and F2, fish fed diets F3 and F4 retained only 2-fold less highly desired omega-3 (n-3) long-chain (LC)-PUFA in their dorsal and ventral muscle tissues. Incubating isolated hepatocytes with 14C-labeled -linolenic acid (18:3n-3) provided evidence that Arctic charr can bioconvert this essential dietary PUFA to n-3 LC-PUFA, including docosahexaenoic acid. The results suggested that tissue fatty acid compositions in Arctic charr are dependent, not only on dietary fatty acid supply, but also on their ability for endogenous synthesis of n-3 LC-PUFA. Finally, this long-term feeding study indicated that feeds containing pumpkinseed press cake and rapeseed oil produced fish with largely similar fatty acid composition to fish fed diets containing higher contents of fish meal and fish oil

Effects of seasonal seston and temperature changes on lake zooplankton fatty acids

Abstract We investigated how seston fatty acids (FA) and water temperature explained seasonal variation in cladoceran and copepod FA over three years in pre-alpine, oligotrophic Lake Lunz, Austria. Using the mostly algalderived polyunsaturated FA (PUFA: arachidonic, ARA; eicosapentaenoic, EPA; docosahexaenoic acid, DHA), terrestrial FA (TFA, 22 : 0, 24 : 0), and bacterial FA (BAFA, 15 : 0, 17 : 0 and their branched homologues) as source-specific biomarkers, we show that cladocerans consistently contained more ARA and EPA and copepods more DHA than the available food (seston). None of these physiologically important PUFA were significantly related between zooplankton and seston across the entire study period but copepod DHA increased with seston DHA during the coldest months (&lt; 8 C, based on a significant seston FA*temperature interaction). EPA, conversely, increased with decreasing water temperature in both zooplankton groups. For the nonessential FA, TFA were lower in zooplankton than in seston and not related to dietary supply or water temperature. However, cladoceran and copepod BAFA increased significantly with increasing seston BAFA and decreasing water temperature. These findings suggest that physiological regulation in response to changing water temperature had a significant impact on cladoceran and copepod EPA and the extent of dietary tracking for copepod DHA. TFA available in the seston may not have been consumed or were poorly incorporated by zooplankton, but BAFA were good indicators of available resources throughout multiple seasonal cycles. Based on our study, both FA type and water temperature impact the extent that dietary vs. nondietary processes govern cladoceran and copepod FA in oligotrophic lakes

uncertainty and complexity in the context of COVID-19

Although the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wave has peaked with the second wave underway, the world is still struggling to manage potential systemic risks and unpredictability of the pandemic. A particular challenge is the “superspreading” of the virus, which starts abruptly, is difficult to predict, and can quickly escalate into medical and socio-economic emergencies that contribute to long-lasting crises challenging our current ways of life. In these uncertain times, organizations and societies worldwide are faced with the need to develop appropriate strategies and intervention portfolios that require fast understanding of the complex interdependencies in our world and rapid, flexible action to contain the spread of the virus as quickly as possible, thus preventing further disastrous consequences of the pandemic. We integrate perspectives from systems sciences, epidemiology, biology, social networks, and organizational research in the context of the superspreading phenomenon to understand the complex system of COVID-19 pandemic and develop suggestions for interventions aimed at rapid responses.publishersversionpublishe

Forest harvest effects on mercury in streams and biota in Norwegian boreal catchments

acceptedVersio

Elevated temperature and browning increase dietary methylmercury, but decrease essential fatty acids at the base of lake food webs

Climate change scenarios predict increases in temperature and organic matter supply from land to water, which affect trophic transfer of nutrients and contaminants in aquatic food webs. How essential nutrients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and potentially toxic contaminants, such as methylmercury (MeHg), at the base of aquatic food webs will be affected under climate change scenarios, remains unclear. The objective of this outdoor mesocosm study was to examine how increased water temperature and terrestrially-derived dissolved organic matter supply (tDOM; i.e., lake browning), and the interaction of both, will influence MeHg and PUFA in organisms at the base of food webs (i.e. seston; the most edible plankton size for zooplankton) in subalpine lake ecosystems. The interaction of higher temperature and tDOM increased the burden of MeHg in seston (< 40 mu m) and larger sized plankton (microplankton; 40-200 mu m), while the MeHg content per unit biomass remained stable. However, PUFA decreased in seston, but increased in microplankton, consisting mainly of filamentous algae, which are less readily bioavailable to zooplankton. We revealed elevated dietary exposure to MeHg, yet decreased supply of dietary PUFA to aquatic consumers with increasing temperature and tDOM supply. This experimental study provides evidence that the overall food quality at the base of aquatic food webs deteriorates during ongoing climate change scenarios by increasing the supply of toxic MeHg and lowering the dietary access to essential nutrients of consumers at higher trophic levels

Elevated temperature and browning increase dietary methylmercury, but decrease essential fatty acids at the base of lake food webs

Climate change scenarios predict increases in temperature and organic matter supply from land to water, which affect trophic transfer of nutrients and contaminants in aquatic food webs. How essential nutrients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and potentially toxic contaminants, such as methylmercury (MeHg), at the base of aquatic food webs will be affected under climate change scenarios, remains unclear. The objective of this outdoor mesocosm study was to examine how increased water temperature and terrestrially-derived dissolved organic matter supply (tDOM; i.e., lake browning), and the interaction of both, will influence MeHg and PUFA in organisms at the base of food webs (i.e. seston; the most edible plankton size for zooplankton) in subalpine lake ecosystems. The interaction of higher temperature and tDOM increased the burden of MeHg in seston (\u3c 40 μm) and larger sized plankton (microplankton; 40–200 μm), while the MeHg content per unit biomass remained stable. However, PUFA decreased in seston, but increased in microplankton, consisting mainly of filamentous algae, which are less readily bioavailable to zooplankton. We revealed elevated dietary exposure to MeHg, yet decreased supply of dietary PUFA to aquatic consumers with increasing temperature and tDOM supply. This experimental study provides evidence that the overall food quality at the base of aquatic food webs deteriorates during ongoing climate change scenarios by increasing the supply of toxic MeHg and lowering the dietary access to essential nutrients of consumers at higher trophic levels