Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes during seasonal adaptations of carnivore fur animals

• Published in: Journal of evolutionary biochemistry and physiology 2000-01, Vol.36 (1), p.28-36
• Main Authors: Kozhevnikova, L K, Tyutyunnik, N N, Unzhakov, A R, Meldo, Kh I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Anaerobiosis; Biochemistry; Carnivores; Enzymes; Fur-bearing animals; Isoenzymes; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Metabolism; Mustela; Seasons; Skeletal muscle; Terrestrial ecosystems
• ISSN: 0022-0930; 1608-3202
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02890662

The seasonal and species-specific peculiarities in the ratio of enzyme electrophoretic fractions are revealed at separation on agar gel plates of lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) isoenzymes from extracts of the heart, liver, skeletal muscle, and blood serum of minks and polar foxes. The essential role of LDH isoenzymes is revealed in the system of ecological-biochemical adaptations in carnivore fur animals of different ecogenesis. Thus, in amphibionts of the martens family, the minks, in comparison with terrestrial carnivores, the polar foxes, the A-type subunits were characterized by their higher relative contents, while preserving the general organ specificity of the isoenzyme distribution. At the same time, the transition to winter conditions was expressed in the both animal species as an increase of the contents of B-type isoenzymes and a decrease of the anaerobiosis factor. All this confirms the ecological dependence of regulation of metabolism already at the molecular level.