Boleophthalmus

About: Boleophthalmus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 41 publications have been published within this topic receiving 808 citations.

A comparative study on the responses of the gills of two mudskippers to hypoxia and anoxia

Abstract: A comparison of branchial enzyme profiles indicates that the gills of Periophthalmodon schlosseri would have a greater capacity for energy metabolism through glycolysis than those of Boleophthalmus boddaerti. Indeed, after exposure to hypoxia, or anoxia, there were significant increases in the lactate content in the gills of P. schlosseri. In addition, exposure to hypoxia or anoxia significantly lowered the glycogen level in the gills of this mudskipper. It can be deduced from these results that the glycolytic flux was increased to compensate for the decrease in ATP production through anaerobic glycolysis. Different from P. schlosseri, although there was an increase in lactate production in the gills of B. boddaerti exposed to hypoxia, there was no significant change in the branchial glycogen content, indicating that a reversed Pasteur effect might have occurred under such conditions. In contrast, anoxia induced an accumulation of lactate and a decrease in glycogen in the gills of B. boddaerti. Although lactate production in the gills of these mudskippers during hypoxia was inhibited by iodoacetate, the decreases in branchial glycogen contents could not account for the amounts of lactate formed. The branchial fructose-2,6-bisphosphate contents of these mudskippers exposed to hypoxia or anoxia decreased significantly, leaving phosphofructokinase and glycolytic rate responsive to cellular energy requirements under such conditions. The differences in response in the gills of B. boddaerti and P. schlosseri to hypoxia were possibly related to the distribution of phosphofructokinase between the free and bound states.

Ammoniagenesis in mudskippers Boleophthalmus boddaerti and Periophthalmodon schlosseri

Abstract: 1. Glutamate dehydrogenase, aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase were present in the gill, liver and muscle tissues of Periophthalmodon schlosseri and Boleophthalmus boddaerti. Both transaminases were found in the cytosol and mitochondria. 2. A complete purine nucleotide cycle was not present in the tissues studied. 3. Glutamine synthetase was not detected. Phosphate-dependent glutaminase was detected in both the cytosol and mitochondria. 4. Aspartate was the major substrate of ammoniagenesis in the mudskippers, though glutamate and glutamine were also oxidised. 5. Transdeamination was the major pathway for ammoniagenesis in the mudskippers studied.