A general model of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) uptake, loss and transformation in freshwater fish

Sawyer, Jennifer M.; Arts, Michael T.; Arhonditsis, George B.; Diamond, Miriam L.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.12.004

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This may indicate that perch use EPA to DHA bioconversion to counteract low DHA availability in food. This agrees with Sawyer et al (2016), who suggested that EPA to DHA bioconversion was the most important source of DHA in benthivorous yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchil), using mass-balance modelling. However, the extrapolation of these results in perch to other consumer taxa may still be difficult as bioconversion abilities depend on the taxonomic identity of the consumer, being highest in invertebrates and lowest in terrestrial carnivorous vertebrates (Bell and Tocher 2009).…”

Section: Physiological Shifts During Life History Are Related To Changes In Fa Compositionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Regulation of fatty acid composition related to ontogenetic changes and niche differentiation of a common aquatic consumer

2020

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Fatty acids (FAs) are key nutrients for fitness which take part in multiple physiological processes over the ontogeny of organisms. Yet, we lack evidence on how FA nutrition mediates life-history trade-offs and ontogenetic niche shifts in natural populations. In a field study, we analyzed ontogenetic changes in the FAs of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis L.), a widespread fish that goes through ontogenetic niche shifts and can have high individual niche specialization. Diet explained most of the variation in the FA composition of perch dorsal muscle over early ontogeny (28%), while the total length explained 23%, suggesting that perch significantly regulated FA composition over early ontogeny. Condition explained 1% of the remaining variation. 18:3n-3 (ALA) and 18:4n-3 (SDA) indicated planktivory; 18:1n-7, benthivory; and 22:6n-3 (DHA), piscivory in perch diet. Conversely, perch regulated long-chained polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as 20:5n-3 (EPA), 20:4n-6 (ARA) and 22:6n-3 (DHA) over ontogeny, emphasizing the role of such FAs in early growth and sexual maturation. Adult perch increasingly retained 16:1n-7 and 18:1n-9 suggesting higher energy storage in older perch. Furthermore, differences in DHA availability in diet correlated with intra-cohort differences in perch growth, potentially hindering the overall use of benthic resources and promoting earlier shifts to piscivory in littoral habitats. Overall, this study indicates that in addition to diet, internal regulation may be more important for FA composition than previously thought. Differences between FA needs and FA availability may lead to life-history trade-offs that affect the ecology of consumers, including their niche.

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Section: Physiological Shifts During Life History Are Related To Changes In Fa Compositionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Regulation of fatty acid composition related to ontogenetic changes and niche differentiation of a common aquatic consumer

2020

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“…However, this level of DHA synthesis has not been accurately quantified in most fish species, other than salmonids (e.g., Bell et al 2001;Sanden et al 2011). For salmonids, it is possible that DHA synthesis in fish may compensate in some way for reduced diet DHA availability, acting as a net producer of DHA (Sanden et al 2011;Sawyer et al 2016). However, algae are also expected to produce fewer DHA precursors in response to warming waters particularly ALA (Fuschino et al 2011;Hixson and Arts 2016), which means less available substrate for DHA synthesis in fish (Tocher 2003).…”

Section: Model Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected declines in global DHA availability for human consumption as a result of global warming

Colombo

Rodgers

Diamond

et al. 2019

Ambio

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114

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Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential, omega-3, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid that is a key component of cell membranes and plays a vital role in vertebrate brain function. The capacity to synthesize DHA is limited in mammals, despite its critical role in neurological development and health. For humans, DHA is most commonly obtained by eating fish. Global warming is predicted to reduce the de novo synthesis of DHA by algae, at the base of aquatic food chains, and which is expected to reduce DHA transferred to fish. We estimated the global quantity of DHA (total and per capita) currently available from commercial (wild caught and aquaculture) and recreational fisheries. The potential decrease in the amount of DHA available from fish for human consumption was modeled using the predicted effect of established global warming scenarios on algal DHA production and ensuing transfer to fish. We conclude that an increase in water temperature could result, depending on the climate scenario and location, in a * 10 to 58% loss of globally available DHA by 2100, potentially limiting the availability of this critical nutrient to humans. Inland waters show the greatest potential for climate-warminginduced decreases in DHA available for human consumption. The projected decrease in DHA availability as a result of global warming would disproportionately affect vulnerable populations (e.g., fetuses, infants), especially in inland Africa (due to low reported per capita DHA availability). We estimated, in the worst-case scenario, that DHA availability could decline to levels where 96% of the global population may not have access to sufficient DHA. Keywords Aquaculture Á Climate change Á Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Á Fisheries Á Global warming Stefanie M. Colombo and Timothy F. M. Rodgers contributed equally to this project.

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“…It is widely assumed that rates of trophic upgrading for HUFAs are low and most of the vast amount of HUFAs need to be acquired by dietary intake (Bell et al 2009 ). However, the modeling attempt of Sawyer et al ( 2016 ), estimated that the dominant uptake pathway for EPA in Yellow perch [ Perca flavescens (Mitchill 1814)], a close relative to the Eurasian perch, would be ingestion, but up to 87% of the Yellow perch’s DHA would be obtained via internal conversion. Unfortunately, we cannot estimate transformation rates from our data, and further experimental studies are needed to determine the specific physiological processes involved to regulate HUFA levels in natural perch feeding types, but more generally also on the uptake and transfer of trophic biomarkers in organisms across the whole animal kingdom (Galloway et al 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatty acid accumulation in feeding types of a natural freshwater fish population

2021

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Fatty acids are widely used to study trophic interactions in food web assemblages. Generally, it is assumed that there is a very small modification of fatty acids from one trophic step to another, making them suitable as trophic biomarkers. However, recent literature provides evidence that many fishes possess genes encoding enzymes with a role in bioconversion, thus the capability for bioconversion might be more widespread than previously assumed. Nonetheless, empirical evidence for biosynthesis occurring in natural populations remains scarce. In this study, we investigated different feeding types of perch (Perca fluviatilis) that are specialized on specific resources with different levels of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs), and analyzed the change between HUFA proportions in perch muscle tissue compared to their resources. Perch showed matching levels to their resources for EPA, but ARA and especially DHA were accumulated. Compound-specific stable isotope analyses helped us to identify the origin of HUFA carbon. Our results suggest that perch obtain a substantial amount of DHA via bioconversion when feeding on DHA-poor benthic resources. Thus, our data indicate the capability of bioconversion of HUFAs in a natural freshwater fish population.

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A general model of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) uptake, loss and transformation in freshwater fish

Cited by 14 publications

References 53 publications

Regulation of fatty acid composition related to ontogenetic changes and niche differentiation of a common aquatic consumer

Regulation of fatty acid composition related to ontogenetic changes and niche differentiation of a common aquatic consumer

Projected declines in global DHA availability for human consumption as a result of global warming

Fatty acid accumulation in feeding types of a natural freshwater fish population

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