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Science 26 May 1972:
Vol. 176. no. 4037, pp. 926 - 928
DOI: 10.1126/science.176.4037.926
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Articles

Triacylglycerols Characteristic of Porpoise Acoustic Tissues: Molecular Structures of Diisovaleroylglycerides

Usha Varanasi 1 and Donald C. Malins 2

1 Department of Chemistry, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington 98122
2 Pioneer Research Unit, Northwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle 98102

More than two-thirds of the triacylglycerols from the acoustic tissues of the porpoise (Tursiops gilli) consist of 2 moles of isovaleric acid for every 1 mole of long-chain acids. Cranial blubber, which has no distinct acoustic function, does not contain these unusual glycerides. The presence of large amounts of diisovaleroylisopentadecanoylglycerol suggests that this structure may be particularly important in sound transmission through lipid-protein matrices.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Acoustic radiation from the head of echolocating harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena).
W. W. L. Au, R. A. Kastelein, K. J. Benoit-Bird, T. W. Cranford, and M. F. McKenna (2006)
J. Exp. Biol. 209, 2726-2733
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)