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Metabolites
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Metabolites Focused on Wildlife and Conservation Biology
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Metabolites Focused on Wildlife and Conservation Biology

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2022) | Viewed by 23085

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jay F Levine

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: aquatic ecosystem and aquatic animal health; freshwater invertebrates; metabolomic studies; nutritional health of freshwater mussels; factors contributing to population declines

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue of the journal Metabolites dedicated to the use of metabolomic profiling to enhance our understanding of factors contributing to the health and conservation of aquatic, terrestrial and flying invertebrate and vertebrate wildlife. Although metabolome analysis is now well established as a cornerstone analytic approach for characterizing the role of key metabolites in human and companion animal health, its role in conservation biology is in its infancy. We are just beginning to characterize baseline circadian, seasonal and circannual metabolic responses to the environmental changes encountered by free-ranging wildlife. This issue of Metabolites will embrace this essential first step by realizing the potential use of metabolomics in assessing wildlife health and identifying factors contributing to population decline. We seek manuscripts that compare and contrast metabolic responses of free-ranging and captive wildlife that enhance our understanding of how native fauna respond to the abiotic and biotic complexity of natural ecosystems (e.g., food-web resources, climate).

Prof. Dr. Jay F Levine
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Metabolomic studies
  • Invertebrate and vertebrate wildlife
  • Health and conservation of aquatic

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1971 KiB  
Communication
Observable Metabolites and Metabolomic Sampling Protocols for Managed African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Whole Blood Using H-NMR Spectroscopy
by Jordan Wood, David R. Morgan, Kimberly Ange-van Heugten, Maria Serrano, Larry J. Minter, Vivek Fellner and Michael K. Stoskopf
Metabolites 2022, 12(5), 400; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12050400 - 28 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 17452
Abstract
We used nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) to evaluate the metabolomics of heparinized whole blood drawn from six African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) maintained on a well characterized diet. Whole blood samples obtained under behavioral restraint, then quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen, [...] Read more.
We used nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) to evaluate the metabolomics of heparinized whole blood drawn from six African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) maintained on a well characterized diet. Whole blood samples obtained under behavioral restraint, then quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen, were stored at −80 °C until analysis. Frozen samples were thawed under controlled conditions and extracted with methanol and chloroform to separate the polar and non-polar metabolites. We identified 18 polar metabolites and 14 non-polar lipids using one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR spectra. Despite unexpected rouleaux formation in the thawed frozen samples, spectra were consistent among animals and did not vary dramatically with age or the sex of the animal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolites Focused on Wildlife and Conservation Biology)
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18 pages, 2253 KiB  
Article
Identification of Metabolomic Biomarkers of Long-Term Stress Using NMR Spectroscopy in a Diving Duck
by Asha Perera, Catherine Soos and Karen Machin
Metabolites 2022, 12(4), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12040353 - 15 Apr 2022
Viewed by 1777
Abstract
Human-induced environmental changes that act as long-term stressors pose significant impacts on wildlife health. Energy required for maintenance or other functions may be re-routed towards coping with stressors, ultimately resulting in fluctuations in metabolite levels associated with energy metabolism. While metabolomics approaches are [...] Read more.
Human-induced environmental changes that act as long-term stressors pose significant impacts on wildlife health. Energy required for maintenance or other functions may be re-routed towards coping with stressors, ultimately resulting in fluctuations in metabolite levels associated with energy metabolism. While metabolomics approaches are used increasingly to study environmental stressors, its use in studying stress in birds is in its infancy. We implanted captive lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) with either a biodegradable corticosterone (CORT) pellet to mimic the effects of a prolonged stressor or a placebo pellet. 1D 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was performed on serum samples collected over 20 days after implant surgery. We hypothesized that CORT pellet-induced physiological stress would alter energy metabolism and result in distinct metabolite profiles in ducks compared with placebo (control). Quantitative targeted metabolite analysis revealed that metabolites related to energy metabolism: glucose, formate, lactate, glutamine, 3-hydroxybutyrate, ethanolamine, indole-3- acetate, and threonine differentiated ducks with higher circulatory CORT from controls on day 2. These metabolites function as substrates or intermediates in metabolic pathways related to energy production affected by elevated serum CORT. The use of metabolomics shows promise as a novel tool to identify and characterize physiological responses to stressors in wild birds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolites Focused on Wildlife and Conservation Biology)
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15 pages, 1342 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Live Transport on Metabolism and Stress Responses of Abalone (Haliotis iris)
by Andrea C. Alfaro, Thao V. Nguyen, Leonie Venter, Jessica A. Ericson, Shaneel Sharma, Norman L. C. Ragg and Craig Mundy
Metabolites 2021, 11(11), 748; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo11110748 - 29 Oct 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3031
Abstract
The New Zealand abalone industry relies mostly on the export of processed products to distant Asian markets, notably China. Over the past five years, live export of high quality abalone from New Zealand has proven successful. However, transport of live animals is associated [...] Read more.
The New Zealand abalone industry relies mostly on the export of processed products to distant Asian markets, notably China. Over the past five years, live export of high quality abalone from New Zealand has proven successful. However, transport of live animals is associated with multiple stressors that affect survival and meat quality at the end of the transport phase. Better understanding of transport-derived stress is needed to improve transport conditions and recovery at destination to ensure high product quality and safety throughout the supply chain. To this end, we applied an untargeted GC–MS-based metabolomics approach to examine the changes in metabolite profiles of abalone after a 2-day transport event and subsequent water re-immersion for 2 days. The results revealed alterations of many metabolites in the haemolymph and muscle of post-transported abalone. Decreased concentrations of many amino acids suggest high energy demands for metabolism and stress responses of transported abalone, while increases of other amino acids may indicate active osmoregulation and/or protein degradation due to oxidative stress and apoptosis. The accumulation of citric acid cycle intermediates and anaerobic end-products are suggestive of hypoxia stress and a shift from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism (resulting from aerial exposure). Interestingly, some features in the metabolite profile of reimmersed abalone resembled those of pre-transported individuals, suggesting progressive recovery after reimmersion in water. Evidence of recovery was observed in the reduction of some stress biomarkers (e.g., lactic acid, succinic acid) following reimmersion. This study revealed insights into the metabolic responses to transport stress in abalone and highlights the importance of reimmersion practices in the supply chain of live animal exports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolites Focused on Wildlife and Conservation Biology)
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