Determination of Total Lipid and Lipid Classes in Marine Samples

Lipids are largely composed of carbon and hydrogen and, therefore, provide a greater specific energy than other organic macromolecules in the sea. Being ...

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Fatty acids are a valuable tool in ecological studies because of the large number of unique structures synthesized. They provide versatile signatures that are being increasingly employed to delineate the transfer of dietary material through marine and terrestrial food webs. The standard procedure for determining fatty acids generally involves lipid extraction followed by methanolysis to produce methyl esters for analysis by gas chromatography. By directly transmethylating ~50 mg wet samples and adding an internal standard it was possible to greatly simplify the analytical methodology to enable rapid throughput of 20-40 fish tissue fatty acid analyses a day including instrumental analysis. This method was verified against the more traditional lipid methods using albacore tuna and great white shark muscle and liver samples, and it was shown to provide an estimate of sample dry mass, total lipid content, and a condition index. When large fatty acid data sets are generated in this way, multidimensional scaling, analysis of similarities, and similarity of percentages analysis can be used to define trophic connections among samples and to quantify them. These routines were used on albacore and skipjack tuna fatty acid data obtained by direct methylation coupled with literature values for krill. There were clear differences in fatty acid profiles among the species as well as spatial differences among albacore tuna sampled from different locations.

Direct determination of fatty acids in fish tissues: quantifying top predator trophic connections.

The effects of replacing marine ingredients by terrestrial ingredients on the health of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are poorly understood. During a 14-week trial, Atlantic salmon fed a fish meal-fish oil based diet (MAR) showed similar growth performance to others fed a plant protein/vegetable oil based diet (VEG), whereas poorer performance was observed in those fed an animal by-product meal/vegetable oil based diet (ABP). At the end of the trial, salmon were injected with either phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or the viral mimic polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (pIC) and sampled for head kidney RNA after 24 h. The levels of 27 immune-related transcripts, and of 5 others involved in eicosanoid synthesis (including paralogues in both cases) were measured in the head kidney of the salmon using qPCR. All of the assayed immune-related genes and cox2 were pIC-induced, while the other eicosanoid synthesis-related genes were pIC-repressed. Linear regression was used to establish correlations between different immune transcripts, elucidating the cascade of responses to pIC and specialization among paralogues. Regarding the effect of diet on the antiviral immune response, pIC-treated fish fed diets ABP and VEG showed higher transcript levels of tlr3, irf1b, stat1a, isg15b, and gig1 compared to those fed diet MAR. We infer that the observed dietary immunomodulation could be due to the lower proportion of arachidonic acid (ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in diets ABP and VEG. Furthermore, our results suggest a major role of dietary ARA in Atlantic salmon immunity, as low ARA proportion in diet VEG coincided with the highest pIC-induction of some immune transcripts (tlr7, stat1c, mxb, and gig1) and the lowest levels of transcripts encoding eicosanoid-synthesizing enzymes (5loxa, 5loxb, and pgds). In contrast, the high ARA/EPA ratio of diet ABP appeared to favor increased expression of transcripts involved in the synthesis of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids (5loxa and 5loxb) and chemotaxis (ccl19b). In conclusion, our findings show that nutritionally balanced plant-based diets may enhance the immune response of Atlantic salmon. Future studies should explore the possible advantages of plant-based diets in Atlantic salmon exposed to a viral infection.

The dietary replacement of marine ingredients by terrestrial animal and plant alternatives modulates the antiviral immune response of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Little is known about how variation in omega-6 to omega-3 (ω6:ω3) fatty acid (FA) ratios affects lipid metabolism and eicosanoid synthesis in salmon, and the potential underlying molecular mechanisms. The current study examined the impact of five plant-based diets (12-week exposure) with varying ω6:ω3 (0.3-2.7) on the growth, tissue lipid composition (muscle and liver), and hepatic transcript expression of lipid metabolism and eicosanoid synthesis-related genes in Atlantic salmon. Growth performance and organ indices were not affected by dietary ω6:ω3. The liver and muscle FA composition was highly reflective of the diet (ω6:ω3 of 0.2-0.8 and 0.3-1.9, respectively) and suggested elongation and desaturation of the ω3 and ω6 precursors 18:3ω3 and 18:2ω6. Furthermore, proportions of ω6 and ω3 PUFA in both tissues showed significant positive correlations with dietary inclusion (% of diet) of soy and linseed oils, respectively. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) further demonstrated that liver long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) synthesis (specifically 20:5ω3 and 20:4ω6) was largely driven by dietary 18:3ω3 and 18:2ω6, even when 20:5ω3 and 22:6ω3 were supplied at levels above minimum requirements. In addition, significant positive and negative correlations were identified between the transcript expression of LC-PUFA synthesis-related genes and liver ω6 and ω3 LC-PUFA, respectively, further supporting FA biosynthesis. Liver ω3 LC-PUFA also correlated negatively with the eicosanoid synthesis-related transcripts pgds and cox1. This is the first study to use CSIA, hepatic transcriptome, and tissue lipid composition analyses concurrently to demonstrate the impact of plant-based diets with varying ω6:ω3 on farmed Atlantic salmon.

Effect of plant-based diets with varying ratios of ω6 to ω3 fatty acids on growth performance, tissue composition, fatty acid biosynthesis and lipid-related gene expression in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Limited fish meal and fish oil supplies have necessitated research on alternatives for aquafeeds. Seven dietary treatments with different protein and lipid sources were formulated for farmed Atlantic salmon, and their effects on liver and head kidney lipid class, fatty acid, and elemental composition were studied. Fish meal, fish oil, and EPA + DHA content ranged from 5-35%, 0-12%, and 0.1-3%, respectively. Elemental analysis showed that the C to N ratio was higher in the head kidney than in the liver, which is consistent with higher content of total lipids in the head kidney compared with the liver. There was a greater susceptibility to dietary lipid alterations in the liver compared with the head kidney despite liver having a greater proportion of phospholipid and a much lower proportion of triacylglycerol. So long as fish oil levels were 5% or more of the diet, arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) proportions were the same for each tissue as with feeding the marine diet with 12% fish oil; however, livers and head kidneys from fish fed the lowest amount of fish meal and fish oil had the lowest levels of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and DHA and the highest ARA levels. Removal of fish oil and reduction of fish meal to 5% in diets of farmed Atlantic salmon affected elemental and lipid compositions of the liver and head kidney tissues potentially increasing susceptibility to inflammation. However, with 10% of the diet comprising fish meal and fish oil, lipid contents were comparable with fish fed marine-based diets.

Minimizing marine ingredients in diets of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): effects on liver and head kidney lipid class and fatty acid composition.

C. C. Parrish

Department of Ocean Sciences and CREAIT Network

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Determination of Total Lipid and Lipid Classes in Marine Samples

C. C. Parrish

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Ocean Sciences and CREAIT Network

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Determination of Total Lipid and Lipid Classes in Marine Samples

Department of Ocean Sciences and CREAIT Network