Abstract
Most shallow teleosts have low organic osmolyte contents, e.g. 70 mmol/kg or less of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). Our previous work showed that TMAO contents increase with depth in muscles of several Pacific families of teleost fishes, to about 180 mmol/kg wet wt at 2.9 km depth in grenadiers. We now report that abyssal grenadiers (Coryphaenoides armatus, Macrouridae) from the Atlantic at 4.8 km depth contain 261 mmol/kg wet wt in muscle tissue. This precisely fits a linear trend extrapolated from the earlier data. We also found that anemones show a trend of increasing contents of methylamines (TMAO, betaine) and scyllo-inositol with increasing depth. Previously we found that TMAO counteracts the inhibitory effects of hydrostatic pressure on a variety of proteins. We now report that TMAO and, to a lesser extent, betaine, are generally better stabilizers than other common osmolytes (myo-inositol, taurine and glycine), in terms of counteracting die effects of pressure on NADH K-m of grenadier lactate dehydrogenase and ADP K-m of anemone and rabbit pyruvate kinase.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 371-376 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Cellular and Molecular Biology |
Volume | 50 |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Keywords
- trimethylamine oxide
- betaine
- inositol
- taurine
- deep-sea
- osmolyte
- pyruvate kinase
- lactate dehydrogenase
- Coryphaenoides
- LACTATE-DEHYDROGENASES
- WATER-STRESS
- PROTEINS
- FISHES
- DENATURATION
- TELEOSTS
- KINETICS
- TAURINE
- POLYOLS