Work

Adaptation of the carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase enzyme in an extremophile fish

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Tetrapods and fish have adapted distinct carbamoyl-phosphate synthase (CPS) enzymes to initiate the ornithine urea cycle during the detoxification of nitrogenous wastes. We report evidence that in the ureotelic subgenus of extremophile fishOreochromis Alcolapia, CPS III has undergone convergent evolution and adapted its substrate affinity to ammonia, which is typical of terrestrial vertebrate CPS I. Unusually, unlike in other vertebrates, the expression of CPS III inAlcolapiais localized to the skeletal muscle and is activated in the myogenic lineage during early embryonic development with expression remaining in mature fish. We propose that adaptation inAlcolapiaincluded both convergent evolution of CPS function to that of terrestrial vertebrates, as well as changes in development mechanisms redirectingCPS IIIgene expression to the skeletal muscle.

Source: Royal Society Open Science

DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201200

Authors: Lewis J. White, Gemma Sutton, Asilatu Shechonge, Julia J. Day, Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra, Mary E. Pownall

Institutions: University of York, Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Biochemical and Molecular Research

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,471

Funders: Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council