Fig 1.
Anatomical sites sampled in caribou for this study.
The numbers correspond to tissues listed in Table 1.
Fig 2.
Relationship between the percentage of fatty acid (FA, % of crude fat) and sample distance in the diaphyseal and epiphyseal marrow of caribou.
(distance data from S1 Fig; FA data from Table 1 and S1 File). Note that, with the exception of the slope for diaphyseal marrow in the foreleg, none of the slopes in this figure are significantly different from a null model. The regressions were calculated using the average for the two individuals. Closed circles: individual A; open circles: individual B.
Fig 3.
Fatty acid (FA) composition in the caribou limbs.
a) percentage of FA (calculated out of crude fat); b) weighted melting point; c) percentage of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA); d) Δ9 desaturase index; e) %short chain saturated FA; f) n-6/n-3 FA ratio. Note the change of scale in c). The shaded areas correspond to areas of suspected significant hematopoiesis. The data points correspond to the mean for the two animals. The summed percentage of PUFA (%PUFA) includes these FA: cis-9,12 18:2; cis-9,12,15 18:3; cis-6,9,12,15 18:4; cis-11,14 20:2; cis-8,11,14 20:3; cis-5,8,11,14 20:4; cis-5,8,11,14,17 20:5; cis-7,10,13,16 22:4; cis-4,7,10,13,16 22:5; cis-7,10,13,16,19 22:5; cis-4,7,10,13,16,19 22:6. The percentage of short chain saturated FA (%short chain saturated FA) is the sum of 14:0 and 15:0. The Δ9 desaturase index was derived as follows: (cis-9 14:1 + cis-9 16:1 + cis-9 18:1)/(14:0 + cis-9 14:1 + 16:0 + cis-9 16:1 + 18:0 + cis-9 18:1). The n-6/n-3 ratio was obtained using this equation: n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA. Data from Tables 2, 3 and (S1 File). The comparative melting point data shown in b) were derived from Meng et al. [4]. The individual melting points used in the calculation of the weighted melting points (including those used in our conversion of Meng et al.’s data) are provided in the S1 File.
Table 1.
Crude fat and fatty acid content of various body tissues in caribou.
The values are averages for the two animals.
Table 2.
Fatty acid profile and calculated melting point of lipid extracted from varying body tissues in caribou.
The values are averages for the two animals.
Table 3.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid family in lipids extracted from various body tissues in caribou.
Fig 4.
Relationship between fatty acid (FA) parameters and sample distance in the diaphyseal marrow of caribou.
a) weighted melting point (in °C); b) percentage of short chain saturated FA; c) Δ9 desaturase index. Bold curves assume a sigmoidal function; dashed curves are relationships that show a better fit with a linear function according to the AICc values (S1 Table). Melting point and FA values calculated as in Fig 3. Distance data from S1 Fig, FA data from Table 2. The regressions were calculated using the mean for the two individuals. Closed circles: individual A; open circles: individual B.
Fig 5.
Relationship between fatty acid (FA) parameters and sample distance in the epiphyseal marrow of caribou.
a) weighted melting point (in °C); b) percentage of short chain saturated FA; c) Δ9 desaturase index. Bold curves assume a sigmoidal function; dashed curves are relationships that show a better fit with a linear function according to the AICc values (S1 Table). Melting point and FA values calculated as in Fig 3. Distance data from S1 Fig, FA data from Table 2. The regressions were calculated using the mean for the two individuals. Closed circles: individual A; open circles: individual B. “0” were replaced by “0.0001” in the calculation of the sigmoidal function as the model cannot be computed with the former values.
Fig 6.
Fatty acids (FA) in the axial and appendicular skeleton of caribou.
a) Δ9 desaturase index in muscle tissues; b) Δ9 desaturase index in cancellous marrow; c) percentage of short chain saturated FA in cancellous marrow; d) n-6/n-3 ratio in cancellous marrow. Comparisons for marrow exclude the shaft cavities. The data points correspond to the mean for the two animals. Data from Tables 2, 3 and (S1 File). Abbreviations: c. marrow = cancellous marrow; hum = humerus; rul = radio-ulna; mc = metacarpal; fem = femur; tib = tibia; mt = metatarsal; px = proximal epiphysis; ds = distal epiphysis.