Lipids of the antarctic sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis. 1978

N R Bottino

The blubber, liver, and muscle of the Antarctic sei whale were analyzed for total lipid content, composition of lipid by classes and positional distribution of fatty acids in individual lipids. The major glycerolipids (triglycerides, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine) were fractionated by silver nitrate thin layer chromatography. The phospholipid fractions were analyzed for fatty acid positional distribution. The whale stomach contained almost exclusively the amphipod Parathemisto gaudichaudi. Its lipids were also studied and compared with the lipids of the body tissues. The results indicate that the stomach content lipids are subjected to modifications before being deposited in the blubber, liver, and muscle. According to the silver nitrate thin layer chromatographic studies, liver and blubber triglycerides resembel each other in their patterns of positional distribution of fatty acids and in molecular species composition. The phospholipids of liver and blubber also exhibited closely related fatty acid distribution patterns. In general, while the proportions of lipid classes and their predominant fatty acids varied from tissue to tissue, the patterns according to which the lipids had been synthesized seemed to be common.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008055 Lipids A generic term for fats and lipoids, the alcohol-ether-soluble constituents of protoplasm, which are insoluble in water. They comprise the fats, fatty oils, essential oils, waxes, phospholipids, glycolipids, sulfolipids, aminolipids, chromolipids (lipochromes), and fatty acids. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed) Lipid
D008099 Liver A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances. Livers
D009132 Muscles Contractile tissue that produces movement in animals. Muscle Tissue,Muscle,Muscle Tissues,Tissue, Muscle,Tissues, Muscle
D002591 Cetacea An order of wholly aquatic MAMMALS occurring in all the OCEANS and adjoining seas of the world, as well as in certain river systems. They feed generally on FISHES, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Most are gregarious and most have a relatively long period of parental care and maturation. Included are DOLPHINS; PORPOISES; and WHALES. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, pp969-70) Cetaceas
D000273 Adipose Tissue Specialized connective tissue composed of fat cells (ADIPOCYTES). It is the site of stored FATS, usually in the form of TRIGLYCERIDES. In mammals, there are two types of adipose tissue, the WHITE FAT and the BROWN FAT. Their relative distributions vary in different species with most adipose tissue being white. Fatty Tissue,Body Fat,Fat Pad,Fat Pads,Pad, Fat,Pads, Fat,Tissue, Adipose,Tissue, Fatty
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000864 Antarctic Regions The continent lying around the South Pole and the southern waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It includes the Falkland Islands Dependencies. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p55) Antarctic Region,Southern Pacific Ocean,Antarctic,Antarctica
D013270 Stomach An organ of digestion situated in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen between the termination of the ESOPHAGUS and the beginning of the DUODENUM. Stomachs
D014907 Whales Large marine mammals of the order CETACEA. In the past, they were commercially valued for whale oil, for their flesh as human food and in ANIMAL FEED and FERTILIZERS, and for baleen. Today, there is a moratorium on most commercial whaling, as all species are either listed as endangered or threatened. Beaked Whales,Berardius,Caperea,Dwarf Sperm Whale,Giant Bottle-Nosed Whales,Goose-Beaked Whale,Gray Whale,Mesoplodon,Narwhals,Pygmy Right Whale,Pygmy Sperm Whale,Right Whale, North Atlantic,Right Whale, Southern,Ziphiidae,Ziphius,Eschrichtius robustus,Eubalaena australis,Grey Whale,Monodon monoceros,North Atlantic Right Whale,Beaked Whale,Bottle-Nosed Whale, Giant,Bottle-Nosed Whales, Giant,Dwarf Sperm Whales,Giant Bottle Nosed Whales,Giant Bottle-Nosed Whale,Goose Beaked Whale,Goose-Beaked Whales,Gray Whales,Grey Whales,Narwhal,Pygmy Right Whales,Pygmy Sperm Whales,Right Whale, Pygmy,Right Whales, Pygmy,Right Whales, Southern,Southern Right Whale,Southern Right Whales,Sperm Whale, Dwarf,Sperm Whale, Pygmy,Sperm Whales, Dwarf,Sperm Whales, Pygmy,Whale,Whale, Grey,Whale, Southern Right,Whales, Grey,Whales, Southern Right

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