Preparation and some respiratory properties of coupled mitochondria from ribbed mussel (Modiolus demissus) gill tissue

Effects of temperature on complexes I and II mediated respiration, ROS generation and oxidative stress status in isolated gill mitochondria of the mud crab Scylla serrata

Effects of fluctuations in habitat temperature (18-30°) on mitochondrial respiratory behavior and oxidative metabolic responses in the euryhaline ectotherm Scylla serrata are not fully understood. In the present study, effects of different temperatures ranging from 12 to 40°C on glutamate and succinate mediated mitochondrial respiration, respiratory control ratio (RCR), ATP generation rate, ratio for the utilization of phosphate molecules per atomic oxygen consumption (P/O), levels of lipid peroxidation and H2O2 in isolated gill mitochondria of S. serrata are reported. The pattern of variation in the studied parameters was similar for the two substrates at different temperatures. The values recorded for RCR (≥3) and P/O ratio (1.4-2.7) at the temperature range of 15-25°C were within the normal range reported for other animals (3-10 for RCR and 1.5-3 for P/O). Values for P/O ratio, ATP generation rate and RCR were highest at 18°C when compared to the other assay temperatures. However, at low and high extreme temperatures, i.e. at 12 and 40°C, states III and IV respiration rates were not clearly distinguishable from each other indicating that mitochondria were completely uncoupled. Positive correlations were noticed between temperature and the levels of both lipid peroxidation and H2O2. It is inferred that fluctuations on either side of ambient habitat temperature may adversely influence mitochondrial respiration and oxidative metabolism in S. serrata. The results provide baseline data to understand the impacts of acute changes in temperature on ectotherms inhabiting estuarine or marine environments.

Effects of salinity on O₂ consumption, ROS generation and oxidative stress status of gill mitochondria of the mud crab Scylla serrata

Mitochondrial respiration, activities of electron transport chain enzymes and formation of oxidative stress parameters were investigated in mitochondria isolated from gill tissue of mud crabs (Scylla serrata) as a function of salinity (10 ppt, 17 ppt and 35 ppt). Mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate was higher for succinate as substrate compared with those of glutamate, malate and pyruvate. Complex I and complex II mediated respirations were higher at low salinity (10 ppt) than high salinity (17 ppt and 35 ppt). Although activities of electron transport chain enzymes particularly complexes I (EC 1.6.5.3), II (EC 1.3.99.1) and II-III (EC 1.3.2.1) were elevated linearly in response to salinity treatment, activity of complex V (ATPase, EC 3.6.1.34) was decreased at 35 ppt salinity. However, ATPase activity was higher at 17 ppt salinity in comparison to 10 ppt and 17 ppt salinity. Results of the experiment suggest that high salinity (35 ppt) causes hypoxic state in mitochondria of mud crabs. Hypoxic condition induced by high salinity was accompanied with increased hydrogen peroxide production resulting oxidative stress in mitochondria of crabs. A possible mechanism of hypoxia-induced reactive oxygen species generation and OS due to salinity stress in the crabs is discussed.

Hydrogen Sulfide Oxidation Is Coupled to Oxidative Phosphorylation in Mitochondria of Solemya reidi

Solemya reidi, a gutless clam found in sulfide-rich habitats, contains within its gills bacterial symbionts thought to oxidize sulfur compounds and provide a reduced carbon food source to the clam. However, the initial step or steps in sulfide oxidation occur in the animal tissue, and mitochondria isolated from both gill and symbiont-free foot tissue of the clam coupled the oxidation of sulfide to oxidative phosphorylation [adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis]. The ability of Solmya reidi to exploit directly the energy in sulfide for ATP synthesis is unprecedented, and suggests that sulfide-habitat animals that lack bacterial symbionts may also use sulfide as an inorganic energy source.

ATP production from the oxidation of sulfide in gill mitochondria of the ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa

The ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa inhabits intertidal Spartina grass marshes characterized by sulfide-rich sediments. Sulfide poisons aerobic respiration, and G. demissa may cope in this seemingly inhospitable environment by oxidizing sulfide in gill mitochondria. Well-coupled mitochondria isolated from G. demissa gills were used to investigate sulfide oxidation and ATP synthesis. State 3 respiration, maximally stimulated by 5 micromol l(−)(1) sulfide with a P/O ratio of 0.89 and a respiratory control ratio (RCR) of 1.40, remained refractory to sulfide at higher concentrations except in the presence of salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM), an inhibitor of alternative oxidases. Sulfide-stimulated ATP production was 3–5 times greater than that stimulated by malate and succinate, respectively, giving an ATP/sulfide ratio of 0.63. The inhibition of sulfide-stimulated respiration and ATP production by the complex III inhibitors myxothiazol and antimycin A, respectively, suggests that electrons enter the electron transport chain before complex III. Combined with in vivo evidence for electron entry at cytochrome c, these data suggest that more than one type of sulfide-oxidizing enzyme may function in G. demissa gills. The SHAM-sensitive pathway of electron flux may be a critical component of a physiological strategy to tolerate sulfide. We conclude that G. demissa exploits the energy available from its reduced environment by using sulfide as a respiratory substrate for cellular ATP production.

Mitochondrial sulfide oxidation in Arenicola marina. Evidence for alternative electron pathways

Sulfide is oxidized in the mitochondria of the lugworm Arenicola marina. Mitochondrial sulfide oxidation is coupled with oxygen consumption and with an equimolar production of thiosulfate [Völkel, S. & Grieshaber, M. K. (1994) Mar. Biol. 118, 137-147]. Mitochondrial respiration in the presence of malate (or succinate) and ADP but without sulfide could be completely inhibited by rotenone, antimycin, cyanide, and sulfide. Only 40% inhibition was achieved by salicylhydroxamic acid. Sulfide oxidation (with sulfide as the only substrate) was fully inhibited by antimycin and by salicylhydroxamic acid but not by rotenone or sulfide. Moreover, sulfide oxidation was 3-4-fold less sensitive to cyanide as compared to normal respiration. The data indicate that sulfide oxidation in A. marina is linked to the respiratory electron transport chain. We suggest that electrons from sulfide enter the respiratory chain via ubiquinone or at the ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase. At sulfide concentrations higher than 10 microM, the cytochrome-c oxidase is blocked and electrons from sulfide are transferred to oxygen via an alternative terminal oxidase.

Sperm nuclear transformations consist of enlargement and condensation coordinate with stages of meiotic maturation in fertilized Spisula solidissima oocytes

Rates of sperm nuclear expansion were measured and correlated with processing of the maternal chromatin in synchronous populations of fertilized surf clam (Spisula solidissima) oocytes fixed at regular intervals following insemination and stained with the DNA fluorochrome Hoechst 33342. Sperm nuclei expanded in four distinct phases each temporally coordinate with events of meiotic maturation: germinal vesicle stage (phase A), germinal vesicle breakdown (phase B), polar body formation (phase C), and female pronuclear development (phase D). Sperm nuclei were essentially unchanged during phase A (rate = 0.1 micron2/min, enlarged during phases B (rate = 8.2 microns2/min) and D (rate = 6.2 microns2/min), and condensed during phase C (rate = -1.9 micron2/min). Sperm nuclear enlargement during phase D was significantly less in polyspermic and polygynic zygotes. The effects of various treatments (temperature, microtubule disruption, pH alterations, and metabolic and protein synthesis inhibitions) which perturbed sperm nuclear enlargement and meiotic processing of the maternal chromatin indicated that the two processes are coupled and may be linked by common regulatory agents.

Rates of male pronuclear enlargement in sea urchin zygotes

Rates of male pronuclear enlargement were determined using synchronous populations of fertilized sea urchin eggs (Arbacia punctulata and Lytechinus variegatus), fixed at regular intervals following insemination and stained with Hoechst 33342. The rate of male pronuclear expansion in both Arbacia and Lytechinus zygotes was linear and significantly affected by polyspermy, temperature, metabolic inhibitors (dinitrophenol, potassium cyanide, sodium azide, antimycin A, and oligomycin), and blockage of cytoplasmic alkalinization. Inhibitors of protein synthesis (emetine and puromycin) and disrupters of cytoskeletal elements (colchicine, nocodazole and cytochalasin B) had no effect on the rate of male pronuclear enlargement.

Mannitol oxidase: partial purification and characterization of the membrane-bound enzyme from the snail Helix aspersa

Mannitol oxidase, a membrane-bound oxidase has been purified 250-fold from snail digestive gland tissue. The activity is solubilized by a number of ionic, non-ionic, and zwitterionic detergents. Purification of the solubilized enzyme was by polyethylene glycol fractionation and column chromatography using anionic exchange resins, hydroxylapatite, and gel filtration. The enzyme is stabilized by glycerol and remains active for at least one week at -20 degrees. Hydrogen peroxide is the oxygen reduction product and a mannose/hydrogen peroxide stoichiometry of 0.86 was found. D-Arabinitol and D-mannitol were the most active substrates of those tested. Results with these and other substrates suggest that the configuration around carbons-2 and -4 is critical for binding and reactivity. The apparent Km for D-mannitol is 6 mM and for oxygen, 40 microM. The pH optimum for the enzyme is between 8 and 8.5 and the isoelectric point is 5.4-5.6.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from ribbed mussel gill mitochondria

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex has been demonstrated in high speed pellet preparations from sonicated ribbed mussel gill mitochondria. The activity of the complex is inhibited by low chloride (less than 100 mM) concentrations, EDTA (1 mM), succinate, ATP, and NAD/NADH ratios below 4. Inhibition by EDTA is relieved by addition of 10 mM MgCl2-1 mM CaCl2. ATP inhibition was enhanced by NaF and reversed by high Mg++ concentrations in the absence of NaF. Pyruvate and thiamine pyrophosphate inhibited the inactivation by ATP. The nonhydrolyzable ATP analog AMP-PNP caused inhibition of the overall catalytic activity that was identical to ATP. Factors involved in the ATP inhibition and Mg++ reversal are lost with freezing or cold storage. Preliminary results using gamma-32P-ATP indicate that a protein kinase that phosphorylates the alpha subunit of E1 (pyruvate dehydrogenase) from the mammalian PDC is associated with the gill PDC. The activity of the complex may be regulated by a phosphorylation/dephosphorylation mechanism and by the relative levels of substrates, products, and other metabolites in the mitochondria.

Amino acid metabolism in euryhaline bivalves: regulation of glycine accumulation in ribbed mussel gills

Glycine levels in isolated ribbed mussel (Modiolus demissus) gill tissue increased slightly and decreased markedly when incubated at high and low salinities, respectively. Low levels of the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of serine from triose phosphate intermediates, the serine hydroxymethyltransferase, and serine dehydrase were detected in gill tissue homogenates. Experiments using gill tissue incubated with (U-14C)-glycine and (U-14C)-serine indicated interconversion between serine and glycine and transfer of label to alanine, asparate, glutamate, CO2, organic acids, and protein. Glyoxylate was metabolized more slowly than glycine and was probably converted to glycine for catabolism. Studies using (1-14C)-glycine and (2-14C)-glycine with isolated gill tissue and mitochondria indicated that the mitochondrial glycine cleavage enzyme was the major route of glycine catabolism. Metabolic controls activating or inhibiting the glycine cleavage enzyme regulate tissue glycine accumulation and catabolism during hypersalinity or hyposalinity stress.

Subcellular distribution of aminotransferases, and pyruvate branch point enzymes in gill tissue from four bivalves

Aspartate aminotransferase (AAT), alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), malic enzyme (ME), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), pyruvate kinase (PK), and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities in cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions of gill tissue from Modiolus demissus (ribbed mussel), Mytilus edulis (sea mussel), Crassostrea virginica (oyster) and Mercenaria mercenaria (quahog) were determined using enzyme assay and starch gel electrophoresis combined with subcellular fractionation. AAT showed distinct mitochondrial and cytosolic isozymes in gills of all these animals. Although ALAT showed distinct mitochondrial and cytosolic isozymes in the gills of oysters, sea mussels and quahogs, only the mitochondrial ALAT was evident in ribbed mussel gill tissue. PK and PEPCK were cytosolic in all these preparations. ME was found only in the mitochondrial fraction of ribbed mussel and quahog gill tissue whereas sea mussel gills showed distinct cytosolic and mitochondrial ME isozymes. With oyster gills, the "cytosolic ME" was electrophoretically identical to the mitochondrial ME indicating that in vivo, the ME is probably mitochondrial. MDH showed distinct cytosolic and mitochondrial isozymes in all bivalve gills tested.