Hemoglobins of the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus. Separation, characterization, and a model for the subunit compositions

Acid-base responses to feeding and intestinal Cl- uptake in freshwater- and seawater-acclimated killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, an agastric euryhaline teleost

Marine teleosts generally secrete basic equivalents (HCO(3)(-)) and take up Na(+) and Cl(-) in the intestine so as to promote absorption of H(2)O. However, neither the integration of these functions with feeding nor the potential role of the gut in ionoregulation and acid-base balance in freshwater have been well studied. The euryhaline killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is unusual in lacking both an acid-secreting stomach and a mechanism for Cl(-) uptake at the gills in freshwater. Responses to a satiation meal were evaluated in both freshwater- and seawater-acclimated killifish. In intact animals, there was no change in acid or base flux to the external water after the meal, in accord with the absence of any post-prandial alkaline tide in the blood. Indeed, freshwater animals exhibited a post-prandial metabolic acidosis ('acidic tide'), whereas seawater animals showed no change in blood acid-base status. In vitro gut sac experiments revealed a substantially higher rate of Cl(-) absorption by the intestine in freshwater killifish, which was greatest at 1-3 h after feeding. The Cl(-) concentration of the absorbate was higher in preparations from freshwater animals than from seawater killifish and increased with fasting. Surprisingly, net basic equivalent secretion rates were also much higher in preparations from freshwater animals, in accord with the 'acidic tide'; in seawater preparations, they were lowest after feeding and increased with fasting. Bafilomycin (1 micromol l(-1)) promoted an 80% increase in net base secretion rates, as well as in Cl(-) and fluid absorption, at 1-3 h post-feeding in seawater preparations only, explaining the difference between freshwater and seawater fish. Preparations from seawater animals at 1-3 h post-feeding also acidified the mucosal saline, and this effect was associated with a marked rise in P(CO(2)), which was attenuated by bafilomycin. Measurements of chyme pH from intact animals confirmed that intestinal fluid (chyme) pH and basic equivalent concentration were lowest after feeding in seawater killifish, whereas P(CO(2)) was greatly elevated (80-95 Torr) in chyme from both seawater and freshwater animals but declined to lower levels (13 Torr) after 1-2 weeks fasting. There were no differences in pH, P(CO(2)) or the concentrations of basic equivalents in intestinal fluid from seawater versus freshwater animals at 12-24 h or 1-2 weeks post-feeding. The results are interpreted in terms of the absence of gastric HCl secretion, the limitations of the gills for acid-base balance and Cl(-) transport, and therefore the need for intestinal Cl(-) uptake in freshwater killifish, and the potential for O(2) release from the mucosal blood flow by the high P(CO(2)) in the intestinal fluids. At least in seawater killifish, H(+)-ATPase running in parallel to HCO(3)(-):Cl(-) exchange in the apical membranes of teleost enterocytes might reduce net base secretion and explain the high P(CO(2)) in the chyme after feeding.

Genomic approaches with natural fish populations

Natural populations v. inbred stocks provide a much richer resource for identifying the effects of nucleotide substitutions because natural populations have greater polymorphism. Additionally, natural populations offer an advantage over most common research organisms because they are subject to natural selection, and analyses of these adaptations can be used to identify biologically important changes. Among fishes, these analyses are enhanced by having a wide diversity of species (>28 000 species, more than any other group of vertebrates) living in a huge range of environments (from below freezing to > 46 degrees C, in fresh water to salinities >40 ppt.). Moreover, fishes exhibit many different life-history and reproductive strategies and have many different phenotypes and social structures. Although fishes provide numerous advantages over other vertebrate models, there is still a dearth of available genomic tools for fishes. Fishes make up approximately half of all known vertebrate species, yet <0.2% of fish species have significant genomic resources. Nonetheless, genomic approaches with fishes have provided some of the first measures of individual variation in gene expression and insights into environmental and ecological adaptations. Thus, genomic approaches with natural fish populations have the potential to revolutionize fundamental studies of diverse fish species that offer myriad ecological and evolutionary questions.

Asymmetric hemoglobins, their thiol content, and blood glutathione of the scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini

Starch gel electrophoresis pH 8.6, or PAGE pH 8.9, of the scalloped hammerhead shark hemolysates showed three hemoglobins (Hb). An additional Hb between the two most mobile electrophoretic components was seen in starch gel electrophoresis, pH 8.1, and also in highly loaded PAGE gels. The relative concentration of these Hbs was variable among individuals, when accessed at pH 8.1. Dilution of hemolysates led to a redistribution of the Hb tetramer subunits. Under denaturing conditions, the unfractionated hemolysate was resolved in 3 Hb subunits. Isolated Hbs, named SL I-SL IV, showed unusual subunit compositions: SL I, the least mobile, is "b3c"; SL II is "a2bc"; SL III and SL IV are composed only by "a" subunits. Hemoglobins in the whole hemolysate have an average of two reactive cysteines per tetramer, which were not easily S-thiolated by glutathione, as is the case for related species. After hemoglobin denaturation, six additional -SH groups were titrated by Ellman's reagent. Methemoglobin content was low in the erythrocytes of nine examined specimens, 1.13 +/- 1.90%. High values for total erythrocyte glutathione (GSH) were found: 4.5 +/- 0.7 mM; n = 7. The ratio of 1.4 +/- 0.4 GSH/Hb is higher than usually reported for mammalians.

Cooperativity and allosteric regulation in non-mammalian vertebrate haemoglobins

1. This review illustrates the vast range of molecular functions expressed in non-mammalian vertebrate haemoglobins; with particular reference to the degree of aggregation of haemoglobin subunits and their interactions with allosteric effectors. 2. In at least the broadest sense, these properties suggest that haemoglobin function in non-mammalian vertebrates can be viewed against the evolutionary hierarchy of organisms rather than from a purely adaptive perspective.

Multiple hemoglobins of the cutthroat trout, Salmo clarki

Nine hemoglobins were purified from blood of Salmo clarki by ion-exchange chromatography and preparative isoelectric focusing. The subunit structures of eight of the purified hemoglobins were studied by electrophoresis of globins in the presence of urea. Six are alpha 2 beta 2 tetramers while two appear to be heterotetramers of the type alpha alpha' beta 2 and alpha alpha' beta beta'. The effects of pH, nucleotides, and temperature on the oxygen equilibria of the purified hemoglobins were studied. Five hemoglobins with isoelectric points from 9.1 to 7.1 and one minor hemoglobin with an isoelectric point of 5.9 appear to have essentially identical oxygen binding properties. All have similar oxygen equilibria which are independent of pH and temperature and not affected by saturating amounts of ATP. Another minor hemoglobin with an isoelectric point below 5.9 has similar oxygen equilibria except for a possible pH dependence. Two hemoglobins, with isoelectric points of 6.5 and 6.4, have oxygen binding properties which are strongly pH and temperature dependent. Addition of ATP or GTP causes a large decrease in the oxygen affinity without affecting the cooperativity of oxygen binding. The effect of GTP is slightly greater than that of ATP. No significant differences were observed in the oxygen equilibria of these two hemoglobins. The red blood cells of S. clarki were found to contain large amounts of both ATP and GTP, with an ATP:GTP ratio of 3:1. Both nucleotides may be important modulators of hemoglobin oxygen affinity in S. clarki, in contrast to the situation in S. gairdneri, in which red blood cell GTP concentrations are considerably lower. The presence of six or possibly seven hemoglobins with identical oxygen binding properties in S. clarki suggests that, to a large extent, the physiological role of multiple hemoglobins in this species involves phenomena not directly related to the oxygen binding properties of the hemoglobins.

Structural and functional studies of the king salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, hemoglobins

Vertical starch-gel electrophoresis at pH 8.6 revealed extensive hemoglobin multiplicity with several distinct cathodal and anodal hemoglobin components. Anodal hemoglobin components are present throughout the life cycle of the king salmon. Additional cathodal components are found in the adult fish. Cathodal hemoglobin components exhibited a higher oxygen affinity (P50 = 10.2 mm at 13 degrees C, pH 7.3) than the anodal hemoglobin components (P50 = 21.8 mmHg at 13 degrees C). Oxygen binding of the anodal hemoglobins are sensitive to pH, temperature, organic phosphates (ATP and GTP), as well as, ionic strength; binding of oxygen to the cathodal hemoglobins is independent of pH and not affected by organic phosphates. Anodal hemoglobin components are less resistant to thermal denaturation over the pH 6.0 to 8.0 range. Isothermal urea denaturation of separated anodal and cathodal hemoglobin fractions of the king salmon indicate inherent differences in the stabilization energies of these hemoglobins. Autoxidation of these hemoglobins occurs around pH 7.0 and below, as well as, in the presence of increasing Cl- concentrations.

Functional characterization of hemoglobins from South Brazilian freshwater teleosts--I. Multiple hemoglobins from the gut/gill breather, Callichthys callichthys

The five main hemoglobins of the South Brazilian bimodal breathing teleost, Callichthys callichthys were separated, and their oxygenation properties and those of the unfractionated hemolysate were measured at 10, 20 and 30 degrees C. The cathodal Hb component had a higher O2 affinity than the other components and a lower Bohr effect (phi = delta log P 50/delta pH), which is reversed at low and high pH values (6.8 greater than pH greater than 7.8). The other, anodal hemoglobins had normal Bohr effects and similar functional properties. The erythrocytic cofactor ATP had no significant effects on the O2 affinities of the hemolysate and the isolated anodal components at physiological pH conditions, but decreased the affinity of the cathodal Hb over the entire pH range tested (6.5-8.2). All hemoglobins showed high thermal dependence of O2 affinity (delta H values between -62 and -74 kJ mol-1 at pH 8.0), which decreased with falling pH, in accordance with an inverse relation between the Bohr effect and temperature. The possible adaptive significance of the oxygenation patterns of the hemoglobins and their temperature dependences are discussed comparatively with special reference to the closely-related bimodal breather Hoplosternum littorale, and to breathing habit (gill breathing in winter when the fish is a benthic feeder and "gut" air breathing in the warm reproductive season when they nest at the surface).

Physiological basis for swimming endurance differences between LDH-B genotypes of Fundulus heteroclitus

Adenosine triphosphate levels in erythrocytes are correlated with LDH-B genotype in Fundulus heteroclitus. Adenosine triphosphate is the fish's allosteric modifier of hemoglobin oxygen affinity. Since oxygen delivery to muscle affects swimming performance, fish of each homozygous LDH-B phenotype were swum to exhaustion at 10 degrees or 25 degrees C to determine whether in vitro differences attributed to the LDH-B allelic isozymes were manifest in vivo. At 10 degrees C, the critical swimming speed of the LDH-BaBa phenotype was 3.6 body lengths per second, whereas that of the LDH-BbBb phenotype was 4.3 body lengths per second. At 25 degrees C there were no differences between LDH-B phenotypes in erythrocyte adenosine triphosphate levels, blood oxygen affinity, or swimming performance.

Hemoglobin transition in early development stages of the tadpole, Rana catesbeiana

Five hemoglobin components (a, I, II, III and IV) were isolated from the hemolysates of the tadpole, Rana catesbeiana. Component a was monomeric molecule and the other four were tetrameric molecules. Component I predominating in younger tadpoles was replaced by component II during tadpole development. Electrophoretic and chemical analyses on the constituent globin chains revealed that component a was very similar to the alpha-chains of components I and II, ad that components I and II differed from one another in their beta chains.