The integration of fatty acid biomarkers of trophic ecology with pollutant body-burdens of PAHs and PCBs in four species of fish from Sabine Lake, Texas

Fatty acids are well-established biomarkers used to characterize trophic ecology, food-web linkages, and the ecological niche of many different taxa. Most often, fatty acids that are examined include only those previously identified as “dietary” or “extended dietary” biomarkers. Fatty acids considered as nondietary biomarkers, however, represent numerous fatty acids that can be extracted. Some studies may include nondietary fatty acids (i.e., combined with dietary fatty acids), but do not specifically assess them, whereas in other studies, these data are discarded. In this study, we explored whether nondietary biomarker fatty acids can provide worthwhile information by assessing their ability to discriminate intraspecific diversity within and between lakes. Nondietary fatty acids used as biomarkers delineated variation among regions, among locations within a lake, and among ecotypes within a species. Physiological differences that arise from differences in energy processing can be adaptive and linked to habitat use by a species’ ecotype and likely explains why nondietary fatty acid biomarkers can be a relevant tool to delineate intraspecific diversity. Little is known about the nondietary-mediated differences in fatty acid composition, but our results showed that nondietary fatty acid biomarkers can be useful tool in identifying variation.

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Stable isotope and fatty acid biomarkers of seagrass, epiphytic, and algal organic matter to consumers in a pristine seagrass ecosystem

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf12027 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 63 (11) ◽

pp. 1085 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Laura L. Belicka ◽

Derek Burkholder ◽

James W. Fourqurean ◽

Michael R. Heithaus ◽

Stephen A. Macko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Fatty Acid ◽

Trophic Ecology ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Primary Producers ◽

Web Studies ◽

Shark Bay ◽

Seagrass Ecosystem ◽

Algal Organic Matter ◽

Fatty Acid Biomarkers

The relative importance of the identity and abundance of primary producers in structuring trophic ecology, particularly in seagrass-dominated ecosystems, remains unclear. We assessed the contributions of seagrass, epiphytes, macroalgae, and other primary producers to the diets of resident animals in the nearly pristine seagrass-dominated environment of Shark Bay, Australia, by combining fatty acid composition with carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes of primary producers and consumers. Overall, mixed inputs of these primary producers fuel secondary production, with tropical detrital seagrass inputs supporting most fish species, likely through benthic intermediates. Epiphytic organic matter inputs were most closely associated with snails, whereas seagrass detritus, macroalgae, gelatinous zooplankton, and/or phytoplankton may all contribute to higher trophic levels including sea turtles and sharks. The fatty acid and isotope data suggest that diets of large-bodied consumers were highly variable – future food web studies need to incorporate large sample sizes to account for this variability.

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Comparison of Dietary Fat Intake Using Food Records vs. RBC Fatty Acid Biomarkers in a Multiethnic Population—The Federal Women Study

Diabetes ◽

10.2337/db18-1893-p ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 (Supplement 1) ◽

pp. 1893-P

Author(s):

AMBER B. COURVILLE ◽

SHANNA BERNSTEIN ◽

MIRELLA GALVAN-DE LA CRUZ ◽

ANTHONY ONUZURUIKE ◽

NIRUPA R. MATTHAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acid ◽

Dietary Fat ◽

Fat Intake ◽

Food Records ◽

Dietary Fat Intake ◽

Multiethnic Population ◽

Fatty Acid Biomarkers

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Fatty acid biomarkers in three species inhabiting a high latitude Patagonian fjord (Yendegaia Fjord, Chile)

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/s00300-020-02788-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paula A. Ruiz-Ruiz ◽

Sergio Contreras ◽

Ángel Urzúa ◽

Eduardo Quiroga ◽

Lorena Rebolledo

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acid ◽

High Latitude ◽

Fatty Acid Biomarkers

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Cyanobacteria as a carbon source for zooplankton in eutrophic Lake Taihu, China, measured by 13 C labeling and fatty acid biomarkers

Limnology and Oceanography ◽

10.4319/lo.2012.57.4.1245 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 1245-1254 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

Anna de Kluijver ◽

Jinlei Yu ◽

Marco Houtekamer ◽

Jack J. Middelburg ◽

Zhengwen Liu

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acid ◽

Carbon Source ◽

Lake Taihu ◽

Eutrophic Lake ◽

Fatty Acid Biomarkers

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Stable isotopes of fatty acids: current and future perspectives for advancing trophic ecology

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2019.0641 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 375 (1804) ◽

pp. 20190641 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cornelia W. Twining ◽

Sami J. Taipale ◽

Liliane Ruess ◽

Alexandre Bec ◽

Dominik Martin-Creuzburg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acids ◽

Fatty Acid ◽

Stable Isotope ◽

Best Practices ◽

Resource Use ◽

Trophic Ecology ◽

Isotope Analysis ◽

Dietary Fatty Acids ◽

Food Web Ecology ◽

Dietary Requirements

To understand consumer dietary requirements and resource use across ecosystems, researchers have employed a variety of methods, including bulk stable isotope and fatty acid composition analyses. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of fatty acids combines both of these tools into an even more powerful method with the capacity to broaden our understanding of food web ecology and nutritional dynamics. Here, we provide an overview of the potential that CSIA studies hold and their constraints. We first review the use of fatty acid CSIA in ecology at the natural abundance level as well as enriched physiological tracers, and highlight the unique insights that CSIA of fatty acids can provide. Next, we evaluate methodological best practices when generating and interpreting CSIA data. We then introduce three cutting-edge methods: hydrogen CSIA of fatty acids, and fatty acid isotopomer and isotopologue analyses, which are not yet widely used in ecological studies, but hold the potential to address some of the limitations of current techniques. Finally, we address future priorities in the field of CSIA including: generating more data across a wider range of taxa; lowering costs and increasing laboratory availability; working across disciplinary and methodological boundaries; and combining approaches to answer macroevolutionary questions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The next horizons for lipids as ‘trophic biomarkers’: evidence and significance of consumer modification of dietary fatty acids’.

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