A preliminary study was conducted to demonstrate fate of the bacterial storage compound poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) once ingested and degraded in vivo in crustaceans. The 2% supplementation of ¹³C‐labeled Ralstonia eutropha DSM545 containing 75% PHB on dry weight in postlarval whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei resulted in consistent enrichment of two fatty acids (containing 14–24 carbons [C] in length) pentadecanoic acid (15:0) and palmitic acid (16:0) in all lipid fractions. This could indicate that ¹³C signal may not only originate from the PHB but partly from the structural components of the bacterial cell. There was a trend of lower ¹³C enrichment in various lipid fractions of the postlarvae as compared to the diet. These findings may have important implications as to potential of PHB as energy source rather than as building block. There was a rapid transfer of ¹³C in the postlarvae as seen by the significant ¹³C enrichment in the tissues 4 hr after feeding with labeled bacterial cells. Overall, the assimilation of PHB in crustacean tissues is demonstrated for the first time. Our results indicate that PHB once ingested is rapidly assimilated in the tissues and could probably act as an energy source rather than as a building block.

中文翻译：

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用稳定的13C同位素示踪法测定虾幼体白对虾凡纳滨对虾中的β-羟基丁酸同化

进行了一项初步研究，以证明一旦被甲壳动物摄入并在体内降解，细菌存储化合物聚-β-羟基丁酸酯（PHB）的命运。补充2％的¹³ C标记的富营养的Ralstonia eutropha DSM545，在幼虾白腿虾南美白对虾中，其干重占75％的干重，导致两种脂肪酸（长度包含14–24个碳[C] ）的十五烷酸不断富集（15 ：0）和棕榈酸（16：0）在所有脂质组分中。这可能表明¹³ C信号可能不仅源自PHB，而且部分源自细菌细胞的结构成分。有下降的趋势¹³与饮食相比，C富集了幼虫的各种脂质部分。这些发现可能对PHB作为能源而不是基础材料的潜力具有重要意义。喂食标记细菌细胞后4小时，组织中的¹³ C大量富集，可见幼虫中的¹³ C快速转移。总体而言，首次证明了甲壳动物组织中PHB的吸收。我们的结果表明，PHB一旦被摄入，就会在组织中迅速被吸收，并且可能充当能源而不是构件。