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Trophic transfer of fatty acids, sterols, and a triterpenoid alcohol between bacteria, a ciliate, and the copepod Acartia tonsa
Ederington, M.C.; McManus, G.B.; Harvey, H.R. (1995). Trophic transfer of fatty acids, sterols, and a triterpenoid alcohol between bacteria, a ciliate, and the copepod Acartia tonsa. Limnol. Oceanogr. 40(5): 860-867. https://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1995.40.5.0860
In: Limnology and Oceanography. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography: Waco, Tex., etc. ISSN 0024-3590; e-ISSN 1939-5590, more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keywords
    Acids > Organic compounds > Organic acids > Fatty acids
    Aquatic organisms > Food organisms
    Chemical compounds > Organic compounds > Lipids
    Chemical compounds > Organic compounds > Lipids > Steroids > Sterols
    Composition > Biochemical composition
    Cycles > Trophodynamic cycle
    Microorganisms > Bacteria
    Tracers
    Trophic relationships
    Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 [WoRMS]; Pleuronema Dujardin, 1841 [WoRMS]; Conticribra weissflogii (Grunow) K.Stachura-Suchoples & D.M.Williams, 2009 † [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal; Brackish water

Authors  Top 
  • Ederington, M.C.
  • McManus, G.B.
  • Harvey, H.R.

Abstract
    The incorporation of lipids into the copepods Acartia tonsa and its eggs was measured when it was fed either a bacterivorous ciliate (Pleuronema sp.) or a diatom (Thalassiosira weissflogii). Egg production was 10-fold higher on the diatom diet, whereas hatch success of eggs was the same for algal and ciliate diets. Adult copepods fed diatoms contained more total fatty acid and sterols than copepods fed the ciliate diet, and individual lipids reflected the dietary source. Eggs from diatom-fed copepods had fewer fatty acids but more sterols than eggs from copepods on a ciliate diet. Ciliate-fed copepods and their eggs contained significant amounts of odd chain-length and branched fatty acids diagnostic of bacteria. These fatty acids, in particular the iso C15 and C17, were also elevated in ciliates feeding on bacteria in culture, suggesting the direct transfer of bacterial fatty acids from ciliates to copepods and their eggs. We also observed the assimilation of tetrahymanol, a triterpenoid alcohol specific to ciliates, into adults and eggs when copepods were fed a ciliate diet. Tetrahymanol accounted for 6.6 plus or minus 1.9% of total neutral lipids in adults and 35.4 plus or minus 6.5% in eggs. These results suggest that bacterivorous ciliates may not provide copepods with adequate nutritional requirements for long-term survival, but that lipids unique to bacteria and ciliates can be assimilated by and may provide useful tracers of consumption by copepods.

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