Bone and Joint Institute
Seasonal accumulation of acetylated triacylglycerols by a freeze-tolerant insect
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Journal
Journal of Experimental Biology
Volume
217
Issue
9
First Page
1580
Last Page
1587
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1242/jeb.099838
Abstract
© 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Most animals store energy as long-chain triacylglycerols (lcTAGs). Trace amounts of acetylated triacylglycerols (acTAGs) have been reported in animals, but are not accumulated, likely because they have lower energy density than lcTAGs. Here we report that acTAGs comprise 36% of the neutral lipid pool of overwintering prepupae of the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidaginis, while only 17% of the neutral lipid pool is made up of typical lcTAGs. These high concentrations of acTAGs, present only during winter, appear to be synthesized by E. solidaginis and are not found in other freezetolerant insects, nor in the plant host. The mixture of acTAGs found in E. solidaginis has a significantly lower melting point than equivalent lcTAGs, and thus remains liquid at temperatures at which E. solidaginis is frozen in the field, and depresses the melting point of aqueous solutions in a manner unusual for neutral lipids. We note that accumulation of acTAGs coincides with preparation for overwintering and the seasonal acquisition of freeze tolerance. This is the first observation of accumulation of acTAGs by an animal, and the first evidence of dynamic interconversion between acTAGs and lcTAGs during development and in response to stress.
Notes
Article is openly available from the journal