Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world

Abstract To date, empirical relationships have been observed for the distributions and variations of stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) in ecosystems as well as in living organisms. Here, we investigated δ15N values of internal organs of various animal species, i...

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Main Authors: Eitaro Wada, Yoshihisa Kudo, Hiroshi Mizutani, Hiroshi Minami, Kenji Matsubara, Yoshihiro Yamada, Nanako O. Ogawa, Yukihiro Kohmatsu, Naoko Nishizawa, Isamu Shimizu, Reiichiro Ishii, Fujio Hyodo, Maki N. Aita, Wataru Sakamoto, Naohiko Ohkouchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-08-01
Series:Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-025-00736-0
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author Eitaro Wada
Yoshihisa Kudo
Hiroshi Mizutani
Hiroshi Minami
Kenji Matsubara
Yoshihiro Yamada
Nanako O. Ogawa
Yukihiro Kohmatsu
Naoko Nishizawa
Isamu Shimizu
Reiichiro Ishii
Fujio Hyodo
Maki N. Aita
Wataru Sakamoto
Naohiko Ohkouchi
author_facet Eitaro Wada
Yoshihisa Kudo
Hiroshi Mizutani
Hiroshi Minami
Kenji Matsubara
Yoshihiro Yamada
Nanako O. Ogawa
Yukihiro Kohmatsu
Naoko Nishizawa
Isamu Shimizu
Reiichiro Ishii
Fujio Hyodo
Maki N. Aita
Wataru Sakamoto
Naohiko Ohkouchi
author_sort Eitaro Wada
collection DOAJ
description Abstract To date, empirical relationships have been observed for the distributions and variations of stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) in ecosystems as well as in living organisms. Here, we investigated δ15N values of internal organs of various animal species, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The δ15N differences of these organs from the corresponding muscles vary within a range of ± 4‰. In general, the δ15N values of the brain and heart are higher than those of the corresponding muscles, except in birds. This may indicate that excreted ammonia is recycled in their cecum. We propose a kinetic descriptive schemas for a nitrogen isotope model of deamination that maintains a TDF of 8.0‰ for glutamate in muscle mitochondria. Differences in the δ15N in skeletal muscle, heart, and brain are evident across species because the cells that make up the organ differ greatly in shape and organization, and the amount and shape of mitochondria distributed in these organs change dynamically. These facts may be the first step to clarify the significance of organ δ15N variation for animal growth physiology and possibly for animal biochemical evolution. These evidences of δ15N variations at intact and organ level in biota may provide a new broad avenue to investigate paleoecology and its environmental conditions.
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spelling doaj-art-147566fe92b84617901acd275410c5e02025-08-20T03:42:09ZengSpringerOpenProgress in Earth and Planetary Science2197-42842025-08-0112111810.1186/s40645-025-00736-0Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered worldEitaro Wada0Yoshihisa Kudo1Hiroshi Mizutani2Hiroshi Minami3Kenji Matsubara4Yoshihiro Yamada5Nanako O. Ogawa6Yukihiro Kohmatsu7Naoko Nishizawa8Isamu Shimizu9Reiichiro Ishii10Fujio Hyodo11Maki N. Aita12Wataru Sakamoto13Naohiko Ohkouchi14Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences (Abolished)Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences (Abolished)Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences (Abolished)Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science TechnologyCenter for Ecological Research, Kyoto UniversityJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science TechnologyKyoto UniversityJapan Agency for Marine-Earth Science TechnologyAbstract To date, empirical relationships have been observed for the distributions and variations of stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) in ecosystems as well as in living organisms. Here, we investigated δ15N values of internal organs of various animal species, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The δ15N differences of these organs from the corresponding muscles vary within a range of ± 4‰. In general, the δ15N values of the brain and heart are higher than those of the corresponding muscles, except in birds. This may indicate that excreted ammonia is recycled in their cecum. We propose a kinetic descriptive schemas for a nitrogen isotope model of deamination that maintains a TDF of 8.0‰ for glutamate in muscle mitochondria. Differences in the δ15N in skeletal muscle, heart, and brain are evident across species because the cells that make up the organ differ greatly in shape and organization, and the amount and shape of mitochondria distributed in these organs change dynamically. These facts may be the first step to clarify the significance of organ δ15N variation for animal growth physiology and possibly for animal biochemical evolution. These evidences of δ15N variations at intact and organ level in biota may provide a new broad avenue to investigate paleoecology and its environmental conditions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-025-00736-0Animal-organ δ15NStable isotope descriptive schemaFeeding dynamicsOxidative deamination
spellingShingle Eitaro Wada
Yoshihisa Kudo
Hiroshi Mizutani
Hiroshi Minami
Kenji Matsubara
Yoshihiro Yamada
Nanako O. Ogawa
Yukihiro Kohmatsu
Naoko Nishizawa
Isamu Shimizu
Reiichiro Ishii
Fujio Hyodo
Maki N. Aita
Wataru Sakamoto
Naohiko Ohkouchi
Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
Animal-organ δ15N
Stable isotope descriptive schema
Feeding dynamics
Oxidative deamination
title Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
title_full Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
title_fullStr Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
title_full_unstemmed Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
title_short Gleaning of δ15N in ecosystems and its animal-organ isotope data: perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
title_sort gleaning of δ15n in ecosystems and its animal organ isotope data perspectives for the construction of the isotopically ordered world
topic Animal-organ δ15N
Stable isotope descriptive schema
Feeding dynamics
Oxidative deamination
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-025-00736-0
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