Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are only synthesized by plants and are bioaccumulated through food webs to economically important organisms such as food fish. Marine and freshwater phytoplankton are the near exclusive source of the most critical omega-3 EFAs. EFAs have a wide range of physiological roles in animals (including humans) and are critical components of all animal diets. This proposal will examine how EFAs are transferred from phytoplankton to herbivorous zooplankton and finally to economically important food fish. This research will also test whether zooplankton can meet their nutritional demands for specific EFAs by bioconverting related fatty acids, as well as whether dietary omega6:omega3 ratios have an important impact on these conversions. This will be done by feeding zooplankton stable isotope labeled EFAs and following the fate of labeled fatty acids within the zooplankton and fish that consume them.
Understanding how EFAs are transformed and transferred through aquatic food webs is of broad interest because these molecules are critical for a wide range of aquatic organisms (i.e. mollusks, crustaceans and fish) as well as humans. The proposed research has the potential to provide important insights for issues as wide ranging as aquatic food web interactions, fisheries production and human nutrition.
