HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: D300009-JLR200v1 44/9/1802    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Budge, S. M. Articles by Iverson, S. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Budge, S. M. Articles by Iverson, S. J. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 44, 1802-1807, September 2003
Copyright © 2003 by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Methods

Quantitative analysis of fatty acid precursors in marine samples

Suzanne M. Budge¹ and Sara J. Iverson

Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1555 Oxford Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: budges{at}dal.ca

To apply fatty acid analyses to the study of foraging ecology and diet determination, all compounds that may be deposited as fatty acids in a predator must be quantified in the prey. These compounds include the usual fatty acids in acyl lipids, but also the alcohols of wax esters and the vinyl ethers of plasmalogens. In routine fatty acid analysis, samples are extracted and transesterified (methylated), resulting in the formation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs); however, fatty alcohols and dimethylacetals (DMAs) are also generated if wax esters or plasmalogens are present. Here, we present a new method using a modified Jones' reagent to oxidize these alcohols and DMAs to free fatty acids (FFAs). These FFAs are then easily methylated and quantitatively recombined with FAMEs from the same sample. This generates a fatty acid signature of prey that is equivalent to that which the predator has available for deposition upon digestion of that prey.

This method is validated with alcohol and DMA standards. Its application to typical marine samples is also presented, demonstrating the change in effective fatty acid signature after inclusion of fatty acids derived from wax esters and plasmalogens.

Abbreviations: DMA, dimethylacetal; FAME, fatty acid methyl ester; GC, gas chromatography; WE, wax ester

Supplementary key words oxidation • plasmalogen • lipid • trophic interactions

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. V. O'Fallon, J. R. Busboom, M. L. Nelson, and C. T. Gaskins A direct method for fatty acid methyl ester synthesis: Application to wet meat tissues, oils, and feedstuffs J Anim Sci, June 1, 2007; 85(6): 1511 - 1521. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]