Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are vital to the physiological functioning of crustacean zooplankton. However, cyanobacteria blooms frequently lead to PUFA deficiencies, which poses a substantial challenge to population fitness. Therefore, we hypothesize that D. magna adapt to PUFA-deficient con...

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Main Authors: Sirui Wang, Zhengwen Liu, Xiaoqi Su, Xiaotong Jin, Hui Jin, Yaling Su, Jianjun Wang, Erik Jeppesen, Xiufeng Zhang, Yali Tang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1544005/full
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author Sirui Wang
Zhengwen Liu
Zhengwen Liu
Xiaoqi Su
Xiaotong Jin
Hui Jin
Yaling Su
Jianjun Wang
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Xiufeng Zhang
Yali Tang
author_facet Sirui Wang
Zhengwen Liu
Zhengwen Liu
Xiaoqi Su
Xiaotong Jin
Hui Jin
Yaling Su
Jianjun Wang
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Xiufeng Zhang
Yali Tang
author_sort Sirui Wang
collection DOAJ
description Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are vital to the physiological functioning of crustacean zooplankton. However, cyanobacteria blooms frequently lead to PUFA deficiencies, which poses a substantial challenge to population fitness. Therefore, we hypothesize that D. magna adapt to PUFA-deficient conditions by prioritizing PUFA allocation to somatic growth, and then to offspring during reproduction to ensure population persistence. To test this hypothesis, we applied (compound-specific) 13C labeling to compare the turnover of total carbon and certain groups of fatty acids in Daphnia magna fed with Scenedesmus bijuba for 6 days and then switching to a diet of 13C labeled Microcystis wesenbergii for 6 days (with food quality deterioration) or to a diet of 13C-labeled Scenedesmus (without food quality deterioration), respectively. Fatty acid profiles of D. magna mothers and offspring were also analyzed to reveal their PUFA allocation strategies. Life table parameters from D. magna-feeding Scenedesmus switching to Microcystis were compared with D. magna fed with only Scenedesmus or Microcystis to reveal the effect of PUFA allocation on D. magna performance. Our results showed that with food quality deterioration, D. magna exhibited a significantly lower PUFA and carbon turnover and higher offspring: mother ratios in their PUFA contents. Despite this reduced reproduction, the D. magna switching diets showed no significant different intrinsic increasing rate of populations with those fed only Scenedesmus. Meanwhile, the D. magna switching diets performed significantly better than D. magna fed only Microcystis. These results suggest that differential fatty acid allocation of consumers may serve as an adaptive strategy for population maintenance in food quality deterioration and provide ecological implications with cyanobacterial bloom management and Daphnia reproductive plasticity, which needs further explorations.
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spelling doaj-art-d4e13696a43c4d798e730233b504572e2025-08-20T02:58:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2025-03-011610.3389/fmicb.2025.15440051544005Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deteriorationSirui Wang0Zhengwen Liu1Zhengwen Liu2Xiaoqi Su3Xiaotong Jin4Hui Jin5Yaling Su6Jianjun Wang7Erik Jeppesen8Erik Jeppesen9Erik Jeppesen10Erik Jeppesen11Erik Jeppesen12Xiufeng Zhang13Yali Tang14Department of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Nanjing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Ecoscience & WATEC, Aarhus University, Aarhus, DenmarkSino-Danish Centre for Education and Research, Beijing, ChinaLimnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences and Centre for Ecosystem Research and Implementation (EKOSAM), Middle East Technical University, Ankara, TürkiyeInstitute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Mersin, TürkiyeInstitute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, ChinaPolyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are vital to the physiological functioning of crustacean zooplankton. However, cyanobacteria blooms frequently lead to PUFA deficiencies, which poses a substantial challenge to population fitness. Therefore, we hypothesize that D. magna adapt to PUFA-deficient conditions by prioritizing PUFA allocation to somatic growth, and then to offspring during reproduction to ensure population persistence. To test this hypothesis, we applied (compound-specific) 13C labeling to compare the turnover of total carbon and certain groups of fatty acids in Daphnia magna fed with Scenedesmus bijuba for 6 days and then switching to a diet of 13C labeled Microcystis wesenbergii for 6 days (with food quality deterioration) or to a diet of 13C-labeled Scenedesmus (without food quality deterioration), respectively. Fatty acid profiles of D. magna mothers and offspring were also analyzed to reveal their PUFA allocation strategies. Life table parameters from D. magna-feeding Scenedesmus switching to Microcystis were compared with D. magna fed with only Scenedesmus or Microcystis to reveal the effect of PUFA allocation on D. magna performance. Our results showed that with food quality deterioration, D. magna exhibited a significantly lower PUFA and carbon turnover and higher offspring: mother ratios in their PUFA contents. Despite this reduced reproduction, the D. magna switching diets showed no significant different intrinsic increasing rate of populations with those fed only Scenedesmus. Meanwhile, the D. magna switching diets performed significantly better than D. magna fed only Microcystis. These results suggest that differential fatty acid allocation of consumers may serve as an adaptive strategy for population maintenance in food quality deterioration and provide ecological implications with cyanobacterial bloom management and Daphnia reproductive plasticity, which needs further explorations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1544005/fullzooplanktonMicrocystisfood qualitycompound-specific stable isotope analysispolyunsaturated fatty acids
spellingShingle Sirui Wang
Zhengwen Liu
Zhengwen Liu
Xiaoqi Su
Xiaotong Jin
Hui Jin
Yaling Su
Jianjun Wang
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Erik Jeppesen
Xiufeng Zhang
Yali Tang
Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
Frontiers in Microbiology
zooplankton
Microcystis
food quality
compound-specific stable isotope analysis
polyunsaturated fatty acids
title Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
title_full Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
title_fullStr Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
title_full_unstemmed Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
title_short Differentiated fatty acid allocation of Daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
title_sort differentiated fatty acid allocation of daphnia magna helped to maintain their population under food quality deterioration
topic zooplankton
Microcystis
food quality
compound-specific stable isotope analysis
polyunsaturated fatty acids
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1544005/full
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