Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

Author:

Hixson Stefanie M.1,Sharma Bhanu2,Kainz Martin J.3,Wacker Alexander4,Arts Michael T.1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Chemistry and Biology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.

2. Department of Biology, University of Toronto - Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd., Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada.

3. WasserCluster - Biologische Station Lunz, 3929 Lunz am See, Austria.

4. Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais 10, Potsdam, 14469 Germany.

Abstract

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are critical for the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms; therefore, understanding the production, distribution, and abundance of these compounds is imperative. Although the dynamics of LC-PUFA production and distribution in aquatic environments has been well documented, a systematic and comprehensive comparison to LC-PUFA in terrestrial environments has not been rigorously investigated. Here we use a data synthesis approach to compare and contrast fatty acid profiles of 369 aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Habitat and trophic level were interacting factors that determined the proportion of individual omega-3 (n-3) or omega-6 (n-6) PUFA in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Higher total n-3 content compared with n-6 PUFA and a strong prevalence of the n-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) characterized aquatic versus terrestrial organisms. Conversely, terrestrial organisms had higher linoleic acid (LNA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) contents than aquatic organisms; however, the ratio of ALA:LNA was higher in aquatic organisms. The EPA + DHA content was higher in aquatic animals than terrestrial organisms, and increased from algae to invertebrates to vertebrates in the aquatic environment. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that fatty acid composition was highly dependent on the interaction between habitat and trophic level. We conclude that freshwater ecosystems provide an essential service through the production of n-3 LC-PUFA that are required to maintain the health of terrestrial organisms including humans.

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

General Environmental Science

Reference60 articles.

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5. "Essential fatty acids" in aquatic ecosystems: a crucial link between diet and human health and evolution

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