Seasonal freeze resistance of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) is generated by differential expression of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and antifreeze protein genes.

In winter, rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) accumulate glycerol and produce an antifreeze protein (AFP), which both contribute to freeze resistance. The role of differential gene expression in the seasonal pattern of these adaptations was investigated. First, cDNAs encoding smelt and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and smelt glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) were cloned so that all sequences required for expression analysis would be available. Using quantitative PCR, expression of beta actin in rainbow smelt liver was compared with that of GAPDH in order to determine its validity as a reference gene. Then, levels of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), PEPCK, and AFP relative to beta actin were measured in smelt liver over a fall-winter-spring interval. Levels of GPDH mRNA increased in the fall just before plasma glycerol accumulation, implying a driving role in glycerol synthesis. GPDH mRNA levels then declined during winter, well in advance of serum glycerol, suggesting the possibility of GPDH enzyme or glycerol conservation in smelt during the winter months. PEPCK mRNA levels rose in parallel with serum glycerol in the fall, consistent with an increasing requirement for amino acids as metabolic precursors, remained elevated for much of the winter, and then declined in advance of the decline in plasma glycerol. AFP mRNA was elevated at the onset of fall sampling in October and remained elevated until April, implying separate regulation from GPDH and PEPCK. Thus, winter freezing point depression in smelt appears to result from a seasonal cycle of GPDH gene expression, with an ensuing increase in the expression of PEPCK, and a similar but independent cycle of AFP gene expression.

Identification and expression analysis of hepcidin-like antimicrobial peptides in bony fish.

Antimicrobial peptides play a crucial role as the first line of defense against invading pathogens. Several types of antimicrobial peptides have been isolated from fish, mostly of the cationic alpha-helical variety. Here, we present the cDNA sequences of five highly disulphide-bonded hepcidin-like peptides from winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum) and two from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar (L.). These hepcidin-like molecules consist of a 24 amino acid signal peptide and an acidic propiece of 38-40 amino acids in addition to the mature processed peptide of 19-27 amino acids. Exhaustive data mining of GenBank with these sequences revealed that similar peptides are encoded in the genomes of Japanese flounder, rainbow trout, hybrid striped bass and medaka, indicating that they are widespread among fish. Southern hybridization analysis suggests that closely related hepcidin-like genes are present in other flatfish species, and that they exist as a multigene family clustered on the winter flounder genome. Hepcidin variants are differentially expressed during bacterial challenge, during larval development of P. americanus and in different tissues of adult fish.