title: Skin lipid structure controls water permeability in snake molts.
abstract: The role of lipids in controlling water exchange is fundamentally a matter of molecular organization. In the present study we have observed that in snake molt the water permeability drastically varies among species living in different climates and habitats. The analysis of molts from four snake species: tiger snake, Notechis scutatus, gabon viper, Bitis gabonica, rattle snake, Crotalus atrox, and grass snake, Natrix natrix, revealed correlations between the molecular composition and the structural organization of the lipid-rich mesos layer with control in water exchange as a function of temperature. It was discovered, merging data from micro-diffraction and micro-spectroscopy with those from thermal, NMR and chromatographic analyses, that this control is generated from a sophisticated structural organization that changes size and phase distribution of crystalline domains of specific lipid molecules as a function of temperature. Thus, the results of this research on four snake species suggest that in snake skins different structured lipid layers have evolved and adapted to different climates. Moreover, these lipid structures can protect, "safety", the snakes from water lost even at temperatures higher than those of their usual habitat.
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdipartimentale per la Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali (C.I.R.S.A.), Università di Bologna, via S. Alberto 163, Ravenna, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Teta
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fattorusso
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Sperimentale, Università di Bologna, via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alibardi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fermani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bonacini
authors.affiliation: Istituto per la Sintesi Organica e la Fotoreattività, C.N.R., via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gazzano
authors.affiliation: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, F-38043 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burghammer
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdipartimentale per la Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali (C.I.R.S.A.), Università di Bologna, via S. Alberto 163, Ravenna, Italy; Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdipartimentale per la Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali (C.I.R.S.A.), Università di Bologna, via S. Alberto 163, Ravenna, Italy; Dipartimento di Chimica "G. Ciamician", Università di Bologna, via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: giuseppe.falini@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Falini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D008055:Lipids / Q000502:physiology*; D018978:Molting / Q000502:physiology*; D010539:Permeability; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012911:Snakes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D014867:Water
keywords: Adaptation; Evolution; Lipid structure; Snake skin; Water permeability