Stable isotope and fatty acid markers in plankton assemblages of a saline lake: seasonal trends and future scenario

This study examined the percentage and stable isotope ratios of fatty acids in milk to study seasonal, year, and regional variability. A total of 231 raw cow milk samples were analyzed. Samples were taken twice per year in 2012, 2013, and 2014, in winter and summer, covering four distinct geographical regions in Slovenia: Mediterranean, Alpine, Dinaric, and Pannonian. A discriminant analysis model based on fatty acid composition was effective in discriminating milk according to the year/season of production (86.9%), while geographical origin discrimination was less successful (64.1%). The stable isotope composition of fatty acids also proved to be a better biomarker of metabolic transformation processes in ruminants than discriminating against the origin of milk. Further, it was observed that milk from Alpine and Mediterranean regions was healthier due to its higher percentage of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid.

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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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