Pubblicazione
The role of fatty acids and triglycerides in the gonads of Paracentrotus lividus from Sardinia: Growth, reproduction and cold acclimatization
08/07/2017
Roberta Sanna, Silvia Siliani, Riccardo Melis, Barbara Loi, Maura Baroli, Tonina Roggio, Sergio Uzzau, Roberto Anedda
Abstract
A detailed characterization of lipid extracts from gonads of P. lividus over a year has been performed combining GC and NMR measurements. For this purpose, sea urchins from two different Sardinian coastal areas were collected monthly. The results underlined a correlation between gonad fatty acids profiles and both water temperature and reproduction process. In particular, EPA and ARA appear to be the most altered fatty acids following seasonal changes. It is suggested that EPA could represent a biomarker of reproduction, reaching a content around 14% during gametogenesis, mainly due to an increase of the sn-1,3 position in TAGs. On the contrary, ARA seems to play a more important role in response to cold acclimatization, which is reflected in a modulation of ARA content in the sn-1,3 position in TAGs.
