Comprehensive molecular and morphological resolution of blubber stratification in a deep-diving, fasting-adapted seal.

ABSTRACT: Blubber is a modified subcutaneous adipose tissue in marine mammals that provides energy storage, thermoregulation, hydrodynamic locomotion, and buoyancy. Blubber displays vertical stratification by lipid content, fatty acid composition, and vascularization, leading to the assumption that deeper blubber layers are metabolically active, while superficial layers are mainly structural and thermoregulatory. However, few studies have examined functional stratification of marine mammal blubber directly, especially in pinnipeds. We characterized morphological and transcriptional differences across blubber layers in the northern elephant seal, a deep-diving and fasting-adapted phocid. We collected blubber from seals early in their fasting period and divided blubber cores into three similarly sized

SUBMITTER: Khudyakov JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9795062 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature