In recent years, the utility of lipidomics has been recognized in environmental toxicology and biomonitoring efforts due to the ubiquitous nature and importance of lipids in many cellular processes including signal transduction, energy storage, and cellular compartmentalization. Additionally, technological advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry have enabled the rapid expansion of the field, creating a surge in interest in comparative studies of lipid metabolism from a Systems Biology standpoint. Here, we adapted a nontargeted lipidomic approach for the study of plasma samples from nesting female leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtles in Florida using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. We identified 877 lipids in common between the three species, of which the concentrations for 467 lipids were statistically different between two or more group comparisons. Principal component analysis revealed unique lipidomic signatures associated with each species of turtle, including various glycerophosphatidylcholines, glycerophosphatidylethanolamines, triacylglycerols, and oxidized triacylglycerols that were higher in leatherback sea turtles, diacylglycerols and select glycerophosphatidylinositols which were higher in loggerhead sea turtles, and specific plasmanyl-phosphatidylcholines that were higher in green sea turtles. Our results indicate that lipidomic profiling can be a useful tool for studying lipid metabolism and physiology of different species of sea turtles, while establishing baseline data that may be used as reference in future studies for observation of differences in life stages, for following spatial and temporal trends in nesting turtles, and for investigating population dynamics in response to various stressors.

中文翻译：

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通过超高压液相色谱-高分辨率串联质谱 (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) 在佛罗里达州三种海龟的筑巢雌性中的非靶向脂质组学揭示了不同的物种特异性脂质特征

近年来，由于脂质在许多细胞过程（包括信号转导、能量储存和细胞区室化）中无处不在的性质和重要性，脂质组学在环境毒理学和生物监测工作中的实用性已得到认可。此外，高分辨率质谱的技术进步使该领域迅速扩展，从系统生物学的角度对脂质代谢的比较研究产生了兴趣。在这里，我们采用非靶向脂质组学方法研究佛罗里达州筑巢雌性棱皮龟 (Dermochelys coriacea)、红海龟 (Caretta caretta) 和绿色 (Chelonia mydas) 海龟的血浆样本，使用超高效液相色谱/高分辨率串联质谱。我们确定了三个物种之间共有的 877 种脂质，其中 467 种脂质的浓度在两组或更多组比较之间具有统计学差异。主成分分析揭示了与每种龟类相关的独特脂质组学特征，包括各种甘油磷脂酰胆碱、甘油磷脂酰乙醇胺、三酰甘油和氧化三酰甘油，它们在棱皮海龟、二酰甘油和选择的甘油磷脂酰肌醇中较高，它们在海龟、海龟和海龟中较高在绿海龟中更高。我们的结果表明，脂质组学分析可以成为研究不同种类海龟的脂质代谢和生理学的有用工具，