@article{SperfeldWacker2015,
  author    = {Sperfeld, Erik and Wacker, Alexander},
  title     = {Maternal diet of Daphnia magna affects offspring growth responses to supplementation with particular polyunsaturated fatty acids},
  series = {Hydrobiologia : acta hydrobiologica, hydrographica, limnologica et protistologica},
  volume    = {755},
  journal   = {Hydrobiologia : acta hydrobiologica, hydrographica, limnologica et protistologica},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Dordrecht},
  issn      = {0018-8158},
  doi       = {10.1007/s10750-015-2244-y},
  pages     = {267 -- 282},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Previous studies examining the effects of food quality on zooplankton often controlled for maternal effects of resource provisioning using standardized maternal diets. However, varying nutritional history of mothers may change resource provisioning to their progeny, especially regarding polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which may change the interpretation of previously observed fitness responses of offspring. To assess PUFA-mediated maternal provisioning effects on offspring, we raised females of the cladoceran Daphnia magna on diets differing considerably in PUFA composition and raised their offspring on a PUFA-lacking diet supplemented with the omega 3 PUFAs alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and/or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The mass-specific growth responses of offspring to their own diets were affected by the maternal diet regime, probably due to varying maternal PUFA provisioning. A low maternal provisioning of EPA or ALA was sufficient to prevent growth limitation of offspring by these PUFAs until reaching maturity. A comparison with results of published ALA and EPA supplementation experiments suggests that the previously observed limitation effects depended on the usage of a single algae genus as maternal diet. Therefore, we suggest that maternal diets should be deliberately varied in future studies assessing ecological relevant food quality effects on zooplankton, especially regarding PUFAs.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{LukasWacker2014,
  author    = {Lukas, Marcus and Wacker, Alexander},
  title     = {Daphnia's dilemma: adjustment of carbon budgets in the face of food and cholesterol limitation},
  series = {The journal of experimental biology},
  volume    = {217},
  journal   = {The journal of experimental biology},
  number    = {7},
  publisher = {Company of Biologists Limited},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {0022-0949},
  doi       = {10.1242/jeb.094151},
  pages     = {1079 -- 1086},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {We studied the carbon (C) metabolism in Daphnia when the amount of C (food quantity) and/or the content of biochemical nutrients (food quality) was limiting. Growth performances and C budgets of Daphnia magna (assimilation, faeces egestion, excretion and respiration measured by [C-14]-tracing) were analysed when animals were raised on different food quantities and concentrations of cholesterol, an essential biochemical food compound. Cholesterol is of special interest because it not only acts as limiting nutrient but also contributes to the overall C pool of the animals. As the tissue cholesterol concentration in Daphnia is quite low, we hypothesized the selective exclusion of cholesterol from C budgeting and tested this using radiolabelled cholesterol. Somatic growth rates of D. magna were highest at high quantity and quality and were reduced to a moderate value if either the food quantity or the cholesterol concentration was low. Growth was lowest at low food quantity and quality. The measurements of C budgets revealed high regulative response to low food quality at high food quantity only. Here, low dietary cholesterol caused bulk C assimilation efficiency (AE) to decrease and assimilated (excess) C to be increasingly respired. Additionally, Daphnia enhanced efficient adjustment of C budgets when facing cholesterol limitation by (1) increasing the AE of the cholesterol itself and (2) not changing cholesterol respiration, which was still not detectable. In contrast, at low food quantity, Daphnia is unable to adjust for low food quality, emphasizing that food limitation could overrule food quality effects.},
  language  = {en}
}