Growth Rates and Protein Turnover in Atlantic Cod,Gadus morhua

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 951-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Houlihan ◽  
S. J. Hall ◽  
C. Gray ◽  
B. S. Noble

Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, were maintained on different ration levels or starved to produce a variety of growth rates. The in vivo rates of protein synthesis and degradation were determined for the whole fish and various tissues. As ration level, and hence growth rates, increased, both whole-animal protein synthesis and degradation rates increased linearly; growth occurred because of the preponderance of synthesis over degradation. On average, a 300-g cod growing at 1.0%∙d−1synthesised 1.25 g of protein with 0.4 g of this protein remaining as growth. The proportion of total protein synthesis which was retained as growth increased with increasing growth rate; at a maximum growth rate of 2%∙d−1, over 40% of the protein synthesised was retained as growth. The ranking of the tissues in terms of fractional rates of protein synthesis was liver > gills > intestine > spleen > ventricle > stomach > gonads > white muscle. The white muscle, gills, liver, stomach, spleen, and ventricle all showed similar patterns of increased protein synthesis with increased growth rate. The white muscle has the highest efficiency of retention of protein and accounts for 40% of the total protein accretion per day. In starving fish there was a constant level of protein synthesis, irrespective of the rate of weight loss. However, degradation rates increased in the whole animal and in white muscle as the rate of weight loss increased.

1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 1497-1502 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Buckley

The protein, DNA, and RNA content of larvae maintained at 1.0 plankter/mL increased at the rates of 9.3, 9.9, and 9.8% per day, respectively, for the 5 wk after hatching. Protein reserves of larvae held at 0 or 0.2 plankters/mL were depleted by 45 and 35%, respectively, prior to death 12–13 d after hatching. Starved larvae had similar protein concentrations (percent of dry weight), lower RNA concentrations, and higher DNA concentrations than fed larvae. Larvae held at higher plankton densities had higher RNA–DNA ratios and faster growth rates than larvae held at lower plankton densities. The RNA–DNA ratio was significantly correlated (P < 0.01) with the protein growth rate. The RNA–DNA ratio appears to be a useful index of nutritional status in larval Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and may be useful for determining if cod larvae were in a period of rapid or slow growth at the time of capture. Key words: RNA–DNA ratio, starvation, protein, nucleic acids, growth, larval fish, Atlantic cod


1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Muramatsu ◽  
Y. Aoyagi ◽  
J. Okumura ◽  
I. Tasaki

1. The effect of starvation on whole-body protein synthesis and on the contribution of protein synthesis to basal metabolic rate was investigated in young chickens (Expt 1). Strain differences between layer and broiler chickens in whole-body protein synthesis and degradation rates were examined when the birds were starved (Expt 2).2. In Expt 1, 15-d-old White Leghorn male chickens were used, while in Expt 2 Hubbard (broiler) and White Leghorn (layer) male chickens at 14 d of age were used. They were starved for 4 d, and heat production was determined by carcass analysis after 2 and 4 d of starvation. Whole-body protein synthesis rates were measured on 0, 2 and 4 d of starvation (Expt 1), and on 0 and 4 d of starvation (Expt 2).3. The results showed that starving reduced whole-body protein synthesis in terms of fractional synthesis rate and the amount synthesized. Whole-body protein degradation was increased by starvation both in terms of fractional synthesis rate and the amount degraded on a per kg body-weight basis.4. Reduced fractional synthesis rate of protein in the whole body was accounted for by reductions in both protein synthesis per unit RNA and RNA:protein ratio.5. In the fed state, whole-body protein synthesis and degradation rates, whether expressed as fractional rates or amounts per unit body-weight, tended to be higher in layer than in broiler chickens. In the starved state, the difference in the rate of protein synthesis between the two strains virtually disappeared, while the degradation rates were higher in layer than in broiler birds.6. Based on the assumed value of 3.56 kJ/g protein synthesized (Waterlow et al. 1978), the heat associated with whole-body protein synthesis in the starved state was calculated to range from 14 to 17% of the basal metabolic rate with no strain difference between layer and broiler chickens.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (6) ◽  
pp. R1231-R1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Samuels ◽  
J. R. Thompson ◽  
R. J. Christopherson

Young animals exposed to cold environmental temperatures typically have decreased skeletal muscle accretion but increased heart masses. To explore these phenomena, we measured protein synthesis and degradation in vivo in cardiac and skeletal muscle in weanling rats during short-term cold exposure and rewarming. Control rats were housed at 25 degrees C throughout the experiment. Ad libitum-fed and pair-fed (to the intake of controls) rats were housed at 5 degrees C (cold) for 5 days and then at 25 degrees C (rewarmed) for another 5 days. Cold exposure decreased rates of protein accretion and synthesis in skeletal muscle, whereas degradation did not differ. The effects of cold exposure on skeletal muscle were similar in both pair-fed and ad libitum-fed rats, except growth was lower in pair-fed rats. In cardiac muscle, cold exposure increased rates of protein synthesis and degradation and resulted in increased cardiac mass. Results in pair-fed animals generally fell between those of control and ad libitum-fed cold rats. During rewarming, growth rates were not higher in skeletal muscle in ad libitum-fed re-warmed rats, although protein turnover returned toward control values; in pair-fed rats, it remained lower. In heart, growth rates of ad libitum-fed and pair-fed rewarmed rats decreased due to lower protein synthesis rates. These alterations appear to be consistent with a strategy designed to improve survival in cold environments.


1985 ◽  
Vol 230 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
R M Palmer ◽  
P A Bain ◽  
P J Reeds

Tyrosine balance and protein synthesis were studied during the same incubation in isolated rabbit forelimb muscles. From these measurements, protein degradation was calculated. Isolated muscles were usually in a state of negative amino acid balance, principally as a result of the 75% decrease in protein synthesis. Muscles from rabbits starved for 18 h had lower rates of both protein synthesis and degradation compared with muscles from normally fed rabbits. Intermittent mechanical stretching and the addition of insulin at 100 microunits/ml increased rates of both protein synthesis and degradation. Increases in the rate of protein synthesis were proportionately greater in the muscles from starved animals. In muscles from both fed and starved donors, increases in protein-synthesis rates owing to intermittent stretching and insulin were proportionately greater than the increases in degradation rates. For example, insulin increased the rate of protein synthesis in the muscles from starved donors by 111% and the rate of degradation by 31%. Insulin also increased the rate of protein synthesis when added at a higher concentration (100 munits/ml); at this concentration, however, the rate of protein degradation was not increased. The suppressive effect of insulin on high rates of protein degradation in other skeletal-muscle preparations may reflect a non-physiological action of the hormone.


1979 ◽  
Vol 178 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
R D Conde

The effect of hypophysectomy on the protein metabolism of the liver in vivo was studied. Fractional rates of protein synthesis and degradation were determined in the livers of normal and hypophysectomized rats. Synthesis was measured after the injection of massive amounts of radioactive leucine. Degradation was estimated either as the balance between synthesis and accumulation of stable liver proteins or from the disappearance of radioactivity from the proteins previously labelled by the injection of NaH14CO3. The results indicate that: (1) hypophysectomy diminishes the capacity of the liver to synthesize proteins in vivo, mainly of those that are exported as plasma proteins; (2) livers of both normal and hypophysectomized rats show identical protein-degradation rates, whereas plasma proteins are degraded slowly after hypophysectomy.


1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1569-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Lambert ◽  
Jean-Denis Dutil ◽  
Jean Munro

Growth rates of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were measured under different salinity conditions to test the hypothesis that growth would be best in an isosmotic environment. The results of two experiments (spring and autumn 1991) conducted at three different salinities (7, 14, and 28‰) and two feeding regimes indicate a significant effect of salinity and ration on growth rate. Within each experiment, growth rates were highest for cod maintained in intermediate salinity conditions (14‰). Growth rates in low salinity conditions (7‰) were higher than in seawater (28‰) during the spring, but during the autumn, growth rates of cod held under low salinity conditions and in seawater were similar. Higher growth rates at lower salinities resulted from an increase in food conversion efficiency. They were not associated with an increase in food intake, changes in composition (proteins, lipids, or water), or relative allocation of energy to the tissues (muscle, liver, and gonads) of cod. The results indicate that rearing cod at intermediate salinities, such as would occur in estuaries or coastal regions, could confer an advantage for cod aquaculture.


1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (6) ◽  
pp. C754-C759 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. McAnulty ◽  
L. H. Staple ◽  
D. Guerreiro ◽  
G. J. Laurent

Unilateral pneumonectomy in rats causes compensatory growth of the remaining lung. This growth involves rapid production of collagen and noncollagen proteins, but the mechanisms for these changes have not been fully investigated. Rates of collagen metabolism were measured using previously validated in vivo methods. Six days after pneumonectomy, a threefold increase in the fractional rate of collagen synthesis was observed (control 11.8 +/- 0.9%/day, pneumonectomy 30.0 +/- 4.6%/day). Collagen degradation rates also increased but returned to normal more rapidly than the synthesis rates. These changes in synthesis and degradation resulted in a 75% increase in collagen content by 28 days. Although degradation of extracellular collagens was apparently increased, the fraction degraded intracellularly decreased by approximately 30%. Noncollagen protein synthesis and degradation rates both increased by approximately 80% (control 44.3 +/- 3.4%/day, pneumonectomy 80.3 +/- 10.2%/day) with a slightly greater increase in synthesis that led to an 85% increase in noncollagen protein content 28 days after pneumonectomy. The data obtained show dramatic changes in protein synthesis and degradation during compensatory lung growth and indicate extensive remodeling of structural elements in lung tissue. The changes for intracellular collagen degradation provide further evidence that this pathway may have an important role in regulating collagen deposition.


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