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First published online January 18, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 447-458 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.013649

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Cutaneous water loss and sphingolipids in the stratum corneum of house sparrows, Passer domesticus L., from desert and mesic environments as determined by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure photospray ionization mass spectrometry

Agustí Muñoz-Garcia^1,*, Jennifer Ro¹, Johnie C. Brown² and Joseph B. Williams¹

¹ Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Lab, 318 W 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
² Applied Biosystems, 500 Old Connecticut Path, Framingham, MA 01710, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: munoz-garcia.1{at}osu.edu)

Accepted 27 November 2007

Because cutaneous water loss (CWL) represents half of total water loss in birds, selection to reduce CWL may be strong in desert birds. We previously found that CWL of house sparrows from a desert population was about 25% lower than that of individuals from a mesic environment. The stratum corneum (SC), the outer layer of the epidermis, serves as the primary barrier to water vapor diffusion through the skin. The avian SC is formed by layers of corneocytes embedded in a lipid matrix consisting of cholesterol, free fatty acids and two classes of sphingolipids, ceramides and cerebrosides. The SC of birds also serves a thermoregulatory function; high rates of CWL keep body temperatures under lethal limits in episodes of heat stress.

In this study, we used high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure photoionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC/APPI-MS) to identify and quantify over 200 sphingolipids in the SC of house sparrows from desert and mesic populations. Principal components analysis (PCA) led to the hypotheses that sphingolipids in the SC of desert sparrows have longer carbon chains in the fatty acid moiety and are more polar than those found in mesic sparrows. We also tested the association between principal components and CWL in both populations. Our study suggested that a reduction in CWL found in desert sparrows was, in part, the result of modifications in chain length and polarity of the sphingolipids, changes that apparently determine the interactions of the lipid molecules within the SC.

Key words: cutaneous water loss, house sparrows, mass spectrometry, stratum corneum

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Gu, A. Munoz-Garcia, J. C. Brown, J. Ro, and J. B. Williams Cutaneous water loss and sphingolipids covalently bound to corneocytes in the stratum corneum of house sparrows Passer domesticus J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2008; 211(10): 1690 - 1695. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]