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Trimethylamine oxide, betaine and other osmolytes in deep-sea animals: depth trends and effects on enzymes under hydrostatic pressure

Yancey, P. H.; Rhea, M. D.; Kemp, K; Bailey, D. M; (2004) Trimethylamine oxide, betaine and other osmolytes in deep-sea animals: depth trends and effects on enzymes under hydrostatic pressure. Cellular and Molecular Biology , 50 (4) pp. 371-376. Green open access

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Abstract

Most shallow teleosts have low organic osmolyte contents, e.g. 70 mmol/kg or less of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). Our previous work showed that TMAO contents increase with depth in muscles of several Pacific families of teleost fishes, to about 180 mmol/kg wet wt at 2.9 km depth in grenadiers. We now report that abyssal grenadiers (Coryphaenoides armatus, Macrouridae) from the Atlantic at 4.8 km depth contain 261 mmol/kg wet wt in muscle tissue. This precisely fits a linear trend extrapolated from the earlier data. We also found that anemones show a trend of increasing contents of methylamines (TMAO, betaine) and scyllo-inositol with increasing depth. Previously we found that TMAO counteracts the inhibitory effects of hydrostatic pressure on a variety of proteins. We now report that TMAO and, to a lesser extent, betaine, are generally better stabilizers than other common osmolytes (myo-inositol, taurine and glycine), in terms of counteracting the effects of pressure on NADH Km of grenadier lactate dehydrogenase and ADP Km of anemone and rabbit pyruvate kinase.

Type: Article
Title: Trimethylamine oxide, betaine and other osmolytes in deep-sea animals: depth trends and effects on enzymes under hydrostatic pressure
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: All works published by OMICS International are under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This permits anyone to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work provided the original work and source is appropriately cited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1470445
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