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Influences of subzero thermal acclimation on mitochondrial membrane composition of temperate zone marine bivalve mollusks

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Lipids

Abstract

The phospholipid and phospholipid fatty acid composition of gill mitochondrial membranes from two temperate zone marine bivalve mollusks, the quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, and the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, were examined after acclimation to 12 and −1°C. Cardiolipin (CL) was the only phospholipid with proportions altered upon acclimation to −1°C, increasing 188% in the mitochondrial membranes of M. mercenaria. Although the ratio of bilayer stabilizing to destabilizing lipids is frequently associated with cold acclimation in ectothermic species, no change was found in this ratio in either of the species. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were found only to increase in C. virginica with cold acclimation, with total n-3 PUFA increasing in the phospholipid phosphatidylethanolamine, total n-6 PUFA increasing in CL, and total PUFA increasing in phosphatidylinositol. Monounsaturated fatty acids, not PUFA, were found to have increased in M. mercenaria, with 18:1n−9 increasing by 150% in CL, and 20∶1 increasing in both CL and phosphatidylcholine, by 146 and 192%, respectively. These manipulations of membrane phospholipid and fatty acid composition may represent an attempt by these species to help maintain membrane function at low temperatures.

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Abbreviations

CL:

cardiolipin

monoene:

monounsaturated fatty acid

PC:

phosphatidylcholine

PC/(PE+CL):

phosphatidylcholine to (phosphatidylethanolamine+cardiolipin) ratio

PE:

phosphatidylethanolamine

PI:

phosphatidylinositol

PS:

phosphatidylserine

PUFA:

polyunsaturated fatty acids

SFA:

saturated fatty acids

SPH:

sphingomyelin

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiac Membrane Research Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, British Columbia

    Todd E. Gillis

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, N1G-2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    James S. Ballantyne

Authors
  1. Todd E. Gillis
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  2. James S. Ballantyne
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Correspondence to James S. Ballantyne.

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Gillis, T.E., Ballantyne, J.S. Influences of subzero thermal acclimation on mitochondrial membrane composition of temperate zone marine bivalve mollusks. Lipids 34, 59–66 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-999-338-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-999-338-z

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