Dietary supply with essential lipids affects growth and survival of the amphipod Gammarus roeselii

Gergs, René; Steinberger, Nicole; Basen, Timo; Martin‐Creuzburg, Dominik

doi:10.1016/j.limno.2014.01.003

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Fatty acids are important components of cell membranes in all organisms, and also have functions in energy storage and signal transduction. For example, the benthic gammarid Gammarus roeselii benefits from addition of DHA to a cyanobacterial diet (Gergs, Steinberger, Basen, & Martin-Creuzburg, 2014), and growth rate of Chironomus riparius larvae is faster when their diet contains both ω3 and ω6 PUFA (Goedkoop et al, 2007). Furthermore, certain PUFA such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6ω3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5ω3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4ω6), are essential for animal nutrition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

et al. 2019

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Ecology of the glacial relict macrocrustacean Gammaracanthus lacustris, a rare inhabitant of deep Fennoscandian lakes, is poorly understood. We studied the life cycle and trophic position of this cold‐stenothermic amphipod in Lake Paasivesi, eastern Finland. The study is based on intensive sampling and analyses of fatty acid composition as well as stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios. Both day and night, the G. lacustris population occurred at depths below 25 m at temperatures <8°C, and the density increased towards the bottom of the lake, where it was 0.4–0.6 individuals/m3. Gammaracanthus lacustris was observed to reach a length of >40 mm and live up to 4 years. The oldest and the largest individuals and females seemed to favour the deepest zones. In October, almost 100% of females with length at least 25 mm (i.e. females presumably at least 1‐year‐old) had an embryo sack with 20–200 eggs or embryos—the larger the female, the more young it had. The developing eggs of G. lacustris had a very high fatty acid content, indicating that the females invest heavily on provisioning their young. Furthermore, the fatty acid composition differed among life stages, and in particular the eggs had a higher proportion of eicosapentaenoic acid than juveniles or adults. The stable δ13C and δ15N isotope ratios and fatty acid biomarkers of the food web, together with visual observations, indicate that G. lacustris is a carnivore that feeds mainly on zooplankton and other relict macrocrustaceans. Due to its high content of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, G. lacustris is a valuable prey for fish and other predators in the food web. However, as a glacial relict with strict habitat requirements the species is vulnerable to global warming and local environmental changes. These facts should be considered in the management of lakes and their catchments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

et al. 2019

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“…Adult gammarids ( G. roeselii ) were obtained from the littoral zone of the oligotrophic prealpine Lake Constance via kick sampling at the shoreline. To hatch juveniles for the experiments, the gammarids were kept in climate chambers with a diurnal dark–light cycle of 12 h : 12 h at 15 °C in aerated aquaria containing lake water, gravel of different grain sizes for shelter, and dried alder leaves as a food source …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the high plasticity in their feeding strategies, gammarids are best characterized as omnivores . Recent findings indicate that Gammarus roeselii is able to exploit deposited phytoplankton as a food source and that the growth and survival of G. roeselii feeding on deposited phytoplankton are affected by the phytoplankton sterol composition …”

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confidence: 99%

“…[26,27] Recent findings indicate that Gammarus roeselii is able to exploit deposited phytoplankton as a food source and that the growth and survival of G. roeselii feeding on deposited phytoplankton are affected by the phytoplankton sterol composition. [28,29] The approach that we applied here is based on the finding that juvenile G. roeselii feeding on the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus exhibit a significantly higher mortality than those feeding on other deposited algae, indicating that this green alga is of poor nutritional quality. [29] Green algae, such as S. obliquus, are characterized by a deficiency in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and often contain only Δ 7 -sterols, which have been shown to constrain growth and/or development of several arthropod species.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Compound‐specific δ¹³C analyses reveal sterol metabolic constraints in an aquatic invertebrate

Gergs

Steinberger

Beck

et al. 2015

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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RATIONALE: Dietary sterol deficiencies can have severe life history consequences for consumers. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) was applied to the exploration of the sterol metabolic constraints and bioconversion capacities of the amphipod Gammarus roeselii. Evaluating structural sterol requirements has great potential to improve our understanding of the ecological relevance of sterols as limiting nutrients. METHODS: Juvenile G. roeselii were reared on food mixtures consisting of different ratios of the two algae Scenedesmus obliifuus (cultivated with 13 C-labeled NaHC0 3 ) and Nannochloropsis limnetica (unlabeled), which have been shown previously to differ in food quality. We measured the sterol content and composition using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector and the o 13 C values of sterols using compound-specific isotope ratio mass spectrometry to examine potential sterol-mediated nutritional constraints of G. roeselii. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that the the ~7-phytosterols present in S. obliifUUS cannot be metabolized to cholesterol in G. roeselii, resulting in the accumulation of lathosterol in the animals and potentially in sterol-limited growth. These findings emphasize the advantage of CSIA in revealing the physiological mechanisms associated with n utritional constraints.

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“…They found that essential lipids were preferentially allocated to offspring when provided foods with high lipid content. Gergs et al (2014) measured growth and survival of amphipods fed diets with or without essential lipid supplementation and found that both were positively affected by the addition of lipids. Comparable feeding experiments should be conducted with these and other herbivores using natural dietary items.…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The adaptive evolution of herbivory in freshwater systems

Sanchez

Trexler

2016

Ecosphere

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Citation: Sanchez, J. L., and J. C. Trexler. 2016. The adaptive evolution of herbivory in freshwater systems. Ecosphere 7(7):e01414. 10. 1002/ecs2.1414 Abstract. Herbivory is thought to be nutritionally inefficient relative to carnivory and omnivory, but herbivory evolved from carnivory in many terrestrial and aquatic lineages, suggesting that there are advantages of eating plants. Herbivory has been well-studied in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, and there is abundant information on feedbacks between herbivores and plants, coevolution of plant and herbivore defenses, mechanisms for mediating nutrient limitation, effects of nutrient limitation on herbivore life history, and, more recently, the origins of the herbivorous diet. Researchers have sufficiently defined the ecological context and evolutionary origins of the herbivorous diet, and these main areas of research have laid the groundwork for studying herbivory as an adaptation. However, we have yet to synthesize this information in a way that allows us to establish a framework of testable adaptive hypotheses. To understand the adaptive significance of this diet transition, we review the current literature and use evidence from these works as support for five hypotheses on the evolution of herbivory from carnivory: (1) intake efficiency-herbivores use part of their food source as habitat, thus minimizing the energy/time spent searching for food and avoiding predators; (2) suboptimal habitat-herbivory allows organisms to invade and establish populations in habitats that have high primary production but low abundance of animal prey; (3) heterotroph facilitation-herbivory is adaptive because herbivores consume microbes associated with producers; (4) lipid allocation-herbivory is adaptive because producers are rich in fatty acids, which fuel reproduction and storage; and (5) disease avoidance-herbivory minimizes animal-facilitated disease transmission. Due to the extensive literature, we have limited this review to discussing herbivory in freshwater systems. To our knowledge, no prior work has compiled a comprehensive list of conditions that favor an herbivorous diet in nature. With backgrounds in both theoretical and experimental ecology, the incorporation of these hypotheses to the current literature will provide information about diet evolution, where it is currently lacking.

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Dietary supply with essential lipids affects growth and survival of the amphipod Gammarus roeselii

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

Compound‐specific δ¹³C analyses reveal sterol metabolic constraints in an aquatic invertebrate

The adaptive evolution of herbivory in freshwater systems

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Dietary supply with essential lipids affects growth and survival of the amphipod Gammarus roeselii

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

Population structure, life cycle, and trophic niche of the glacial relict amphipod, Gammaracanthus lacustris, in a large boreal lake

Compound‐specific δ13C analyses reveal sterol metabolic constraints in an aquatic invertebrate

The adaptive evolution of herbivory in freshwater systems

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Compound‐specific δ¹³C analyses reveal sterol metabolic constraints in an aquatic invertebrate