Fatty acids(FAs) provide energy and also can be used to trace trophic relationships among organisms.Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus goes into a state of aestivation during warm summer months.We examined fatty acid...Fatty acids(FAs) provide energy and also can be used to trace trophic relationships among organisms.Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus goes into a state of aestivation during warm summer months.We examined fatty acid profiles in aestivated and non-aestivated A.japonicus using multivariate analyses(PERMANOVA,MDS,ANOSIM,and SIMPER).The results indicate that the fatty acid profiles of aestivated and non-aestivated sea cucumbers differed significantly.The FAs that were produced by bacteria and brown kelp contributed the most to the differences in the fatty acid composition of aestivated and nonaestivated sea cucumbers.Aestivated sea cucumbers may synthesize FAs from heterotrophic bacteria during early aestivation,and long chain FAs such as eicosapentaenoic(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) that produced from intestinal degradation,are digested during deep aestivation.Specific changes in the fatty acid composition of A.japonicus during aestivation needs more detailed study in the future.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project(No.201305043)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41106134)the National Key Technology R&D Program of China(Nos.2011BAD13B02,2010BAC68B01)
文摘Fatty acids(FAs) provide energy and also can be used to trace trophic relationships among organisms.Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus goes into a state of aestivation during warm summer months.We examined fatty acid profiles in aestivated and non-aestivated A.japonicus using multivariate analyses(PERMANOVA,MDS,ANOSIM,and SIMPER).The results indicate that the fatty acid profiles of aestivated and non-aestivated sea cucumbers differed significantly.The FAs that were produced by bacteria and brown kelp contributed the most to the differences in the fatty acid composition of aestivated and nonaestivated sea cucumbers.Aestivated sea cucumbers may synthesize FAs from heterotrophic bacteria during early aestivation,and long chain FAs such as eicosapentaenoic(EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) that produced from intestinal degradation,are digested during deep aestivation.Specific changes in the fatty acid composition of A.japonicus during aestivation needs more detailed study in the future.