The thermotropic behavior and fatty radical composition of major phospholipids of the tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi Rathbun, 1924

Abstract

This study examines the fatty radical (FR) composition and heat-induced crystalline to liquidcrystalline phase transitions of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) from the gills, hepatopancreas, gonads, and muscle of the tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi, which was collected in the summer at a near-bottom water temperature of 2.8°C. The location of the PC and PE thermograms below 2.8°C indicates the functionally optimal liquid crystalline state of the membrane lipid matrix. The proximity of the thermogram profiles of PC and PE from the different organs and tissues of C. bairdi and significant overlapping of the temperature areas of transitions (symbatic behavior) correlate with a similar composition of major FR and their total parameters in PC and PE. The obtained data point to the effective adaptation of the bairdi crab to low water temperatures and to the need for adaptive changes in the FR composition or change of habitat with increasing temperature. The thermotropic behavior of muscle PC, in which the greater part of the thermogram is in the temperature range from 2.8 to 32°C, suggests a potential for the tanner crab to adapt to increased temperatures.