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Gill Ion Transporter Transcript and Protein Abundance during Developmental Increases in Salinity Tolerance of Atlantic salmon Smolts
Author(s) -
Christensen Arne,
Regish Amy,
McCormick Stephen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.843.6
Subject(s) - messenger rna , biology , cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator , salinity , protein turnover , abundance (ecology) , transporter , protein subunit , gene expression , ion transporter , protein biosynthesis , chemistry , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , ecology , membrane
Measuring either transcript or protein abundance is a standard approach to examine functional changes in cells and tissues. Less is known about how both the abundance of a transcript and its protein product change concurrently, particularly over extended transitions associated with development and seasonality. The present study was undertaken to compare the transcript and protein abundance of several gill ion‐transporters during developmental increases in salinity tolerance of Atlantic salmon smolts, which occur during downstream migration prior to seawater entry. We show that both transcript and protein abundance of the Na + /K + ‐ATPase(NKA)α1a subunit (NKAα1a) decreased during smolt development; however, the decrease in the transcript was five‐times greater than that of the protein. NKA‐α1b transcript remained relatively constant throughout development, but protein abundance increased 30‐fold at its peak. A Na + /K + /2Cl – co‐transporter (NKCC1) increased at the transcript and protein level (5‐ and 12‐fold) in smolts, and the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) transcript exhibited a 4‐fold increase during the same period. Following transfer of smolts to seawater throughout development, the maintenance of plasma chloride concentration and growth performance correlated highest with the ratio of NKAα1a:NKAα1b protein abundance (r 2 =0.98) and NKCC1 transcript (r 2 =0.88), respectively. The results indicate that gene regulation at transcriptional and translational levels, and mRNA and protein turnover, should be considered together when determining functional shifts in cells and tissues.