Metabolic rate increases with acclimation temperature and is associated with mitochondrial function in some tissues of threespine stickleback.

The metabolic rate (MO2) of eurythermal fishes changes in response to temperature, yet it is unclear how changes in mitochondrial function contribute to changes in MO2. We hypothesized that MO2 would increase with acclimation temperature in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in parallel with metabolic remodeling at the cellular level but that changes in metabolism in some tissues, such as liver, would contribute more to changes in MO2 than others. Threespine stickleback were acclimated to 5, 12 and 20°C for 7 to 21 weeks. At each temperature, standard and maximum metabolic rate (SMR and MMR, respectively), and absolute aerobic scope (AAS) were quantified, along with mitochondrial respiration rates in liver, oxidative skeletal and cardiac muscles, and the maximal activity of citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in liver, and oxidative and glycolytic skeletal muscles. SMR, MMR and AAS increased with acclimation temperature, along with rates of mitochondrial phosphorylating respiration in all tissues. Low SMR and MMR at 5°C were associated with low or undetectable rates of mitochondrial complex II activity and a greater reliance on complex I activity in liver, oxidative skeletal muscle and heart. SMR was positively correlated with cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) activity in liver and oxidative muscle, but not mitochondrial proton leak, whereas MMR was positively correlated with CCO activity in liver. Overall, the results suggest that changes in MO2 in response to temperature are driven by changes in some aspects of mitochondrial function in some, but not all, tissues of threespine stickleback.