Animals are known to regulate the composition of their cell membranes to maintain key biophysical properties in response to changes in temperature. For deep-sea marine organisms, high hydrostatic pressure represents an additional, yet much more poorly understood, perturbant of cell membrane structure. Previous studies in fish and marine microbes have reported correlations with temperature and depth of membrane-fluidizing lipid components, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids. Because little has been done to isolate the separate effects of temperature and pressure on the lipid pool, it is still not understood whether these two environmental factors elicit independent or overlapping biochemical adaptive responses. Here, we use the taxonomic and habitat diversity of the phylum Ctenophora to test whether distinct low-temperature and high-pressure signatures can be detected in fatty acid profiles. We measured the fatty acid composition of 105 individual ctenophores, representing twenty-one species, from deep and shallow Arctic, temperate, and tropical sampling locales (sea surface temperature -2° to 28° C). In tropical and temperate regions, remotely operated submersibles (ROVs) enabled sampling down to 4000 meters. Among specimens with body temperatures 7.5°C or colder, depth predicted fatty acid unsaturation level. In the upper 200 m of the water column, temperature predicted fatty acid chain length. Taken together, our findings suggest that lipid metabolism may be specialized with respect to multiple physical variables in diverse marine environments. Largely distinct modes of adaptation to depth and cold imply that polar marine invertebrates may not find a ready refugium from climate change in the deep.
Depth- and temperature-specific fatty acid adaptations in ctenophores from extreme habitats
Currently Viewing Accepted Manuscript - Newer Version Available
- Split-screen
- Views Icon Views
- Open the PDF for in another window
-
Article Versions Icon
Versions
- Version of Record 05 November 2021
- Accepted Manuscript 22 October 2021
- Share Icon Share
-
Tools Icon
Tools
- Search Site
Jacob R. Winnikoff, Steven H.D. Haddock, Itay Budin; Depth- and temperature-specific fatty acid adaptations in ctenophores from extreme habitats. J Exp Biol 2021; jeb.242800. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.242800
Download citation file:
Advertisement
2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
The JEB Editors are delighted to announce the shortlisted authors for the 2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize. Read the winning paper - Tiny spies: mosquito antennae are sensitive sensors for eavesdropping on frog calls - by Hoover Pantoja-Sanchez and Brian Leavell from Ximena Bernal's lab at Purdue University, USA.
JEB Science Communication Workshop for ECRs
If you’re an early-career researcher interested in science communication and are attending the SEB Annual Conference in Prague this summer, come a day early and join the JEB Editors at a sci comm workshop to learn the key writing skills needed to promote your research to a broad audience beyond your peers (1 July at 14.30-17.30). Places are limited to 24 attendees, and applicants should apply through the SEB registration page by 30 April 2024.
Bridging the gap between controlled conditions and natural habitats in understanding behaviour
Novel technologies enable behavioural experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviours. In their Commentary, Scholz and colleagues discuss how to obtain a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
How a macrourid fish remains buoyant at depths it should be unable to reach
Fish with swimbladders should not be capable of descending below 7200m, but when Alan Jamieson and Todd Bond spotted a macrourid fish at 7259m, they knew they had seen something miraculous. Working with Imantes Priede, they reveal that the swimbladder of a 1 kg fish could hold 37.9 g of oxygen, sufficient to offset the weight of the fish's bones, and take 221-440 days to fill, which is plausible because it takes years for the fish to descend to such depths.
ECR Workshop on Positive Peer Review
Are you an ECR looking for tips on how to write concise, astute and useful manuscript reviews? If so, join the JEB Editors at a 2-hour JEB-sponsored Workshop on Positive Peer Review at the Canadian Society of Zoologists annual meeting in Moncton on 9 May 2024 at 13.00-15.00. There are 25 spaces for ECRs and selection is first come, first serve. To sign up, check the ECR Workshop box when you register for the CSZ meeting.