Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia

The non-ionized form of ammonia is very toxic to many aquatic species. It is especially important in several aspects of fish biology. A large range of organismal strategies for coping with environmental stressors is usually observed in living organisms. Among those, the responses for managing chemic...

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Main Authors: G. Moraes, V. L. P. Polez, G. K. Iwama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
Series:Brazilian Journal of Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842004000100011&lng=en&tlng=en
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author G. Moraes
V. L. P. Polez
G. K. Iwama
author_facet G. Moraes
V. L. P. Polez
G. K. Iwama
author_sort G. Moraes
collection DOAJ
description The non-ionized form of ammonia is very toxic to many aquatic species. It is especially important in several aspects of fish biology. A large range of organismal strategies for coping with environmental stressors is usually observed in living organisms. Among those, the responses for managing chemical stressors are well studied. The present work compares biochemical responses of two evolutionarily close species, Hoplias malabaricus and Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus, exposed to environmental ammonia. Adult fish were submitted to 1.0 mg/L of ammonium chloride for 24 hours, and plasma ammonia and urea levels were determined. The activities of OUC enzymes OCT and ARG, and the accessory enzyme GS, were quantified in liver extract and are expressed below in mumol/min/mg of wet tissue. Increases in OUC enzymes (GS from 1.14 to 2.43, OCT from 0.81 to 1.72, and ARG from 3.15 to 4.23), plasma ammonia (from 0.95 to 1.42 mmol/L), and plasma urea (from 0.82 to 1.53 mmol/L) were observed (p < 0.05) in H. malabaricus exposed to 1 mg/L of ammonia chloride. The GS in H. unitaeniatus increased from 1.43 to 1.84, however the OCT, ARG, and plasma urea from H. unitaeniatus did not change. These data indicate that each species responds differently to the same environmental stressor.
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spelling doaj.art-27a4224dd74842cc919139e4d56b7ba22022-12-21T17:30:23ZengInstituto Internacional de EcologiaBrazilian Journal of Biology1678-43756419510210.1590/S1519-69842004000100011S1519-69842004000100011Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammoniaG. Moraes0V. L. P. Polez1G. K. Iwama2Universidade Federal de São CarlosUniversidade Federal de São CarlosNational Research Council CanadaThe non-ionized form of ammonia is very toxic to many aquatic species. It is especially important in several aspects of fish biology. A large range of organismal strategies for coping with environmental stressors is usually observed in living organisms. Among those, the responses for managing chemical stressors are well studied. The present work compares biochemical responses of two evolutionarily close species, Hoplias malabaricus and Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus, exposed to environmental ammonia. Adult fish were submitted to 1.0 mg/L of ammonium chloride for 24 hours, and plasma ammonia and urea levels were determined. The activities of OUC enzymes OCT and ARG, and the accessory enzyme GS, were quantified in liver extract and are expressed below in mumol/min/mg of wet tissue. Increases in OUC enzymes (GS from 1.14 to 2.43, OCT from 0.81 to 1.72, and ARG from 3.15 to 4.23), plasma ammonia (from 0.95 to 1.42 mmol/L), and plasma urea (from 0.82 to 1.53 mmol/L) were observed (p < 0.05) in H. malabaricus exposed to 1 mg/L of ammonia chloride. The GS in H. unitaeniatus increased from 1.43 to 1.84, however the OCT, ARG, and plasma urea from H. unitaeniatus did not change. These data indicate that each species responds differently to the same environmental stressor.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842004000100011&lng=en&tlng=enHoplias malabaricusHoplerythrinus unitaeniatusammoniabiochemical adaptationfishOrnithine-urea cycle enzymes
spellingShingle G. Moraes
V. L. P. Polez
G. K. Iwama
Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
Brazilian Journal of Biology
Hoplias malabaricus
Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus
ammonia
biochemical adaptation
fish
Ornithine-urea cycle enzymes
title Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
title_full Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
title_fullStr Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
title_full_unstemmed Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
title_short Biochemical responses of two Erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
title_sort biochemical responses of two erythrinidae fish to environmental ammonia
topic Hoplias malabaricus
Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus
ammonia
biochemical adaptation
fish
Ornithine-urea cycle enzymes
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842004000100011&lng=en&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT gmoraes biochemicalresponsesoftwoerythrinidaefishtoenvironmentalammonia
AT vlppolez biochemicalresponsesoftwoerythrinidaefishtoenvironmentalammonia
AT gkiwama biochemicalresponsesoftwoerythrinidaefishtoenvironmentalammonia