Abstract
A comparative study was performed to identify differences in the amino acid composition of the eyes from zebrafish (Danio rerio) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) larvae and their link to the environmental adaption of the species. Amino acids in the acidic hydrolysates of eyes from 11 zebrafish and 12 sardine were determined with the use of high-performance liquid chromatography involving precolumn derivatization with ortho-phthalaldehyde. Differences in the content of most amino acids were detected between zebrafish and sardine. These amino acids were aspartate, glutamate, serine, glycine, threonine, arginine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine and lysine. Of particular note, the percentage of methionine in zebrafish eyes was much higher than that in sardine, whereas the opposite was observed for glutamate and glycine. These results indicate that zebrafish and sardine likely have experienced differences in adaptation to environmental changes. We suggest that the amino acid composition of eyes represents a powerful tool to discriminate between species characterized by different lifestyle and inhabiting different environments.
Highlights
Recent studies led to the discovery that the genes involved in the eye ontogeny are conserved and that all of the eyes are monophyletic, that is, they arose from a single eye origin (Gehring and Ikeo 1999; Russell et al 2000; Fernald 2000)
In this study we focused our attention on two fish species at larval stage: the cyprinidae zebrafish (Danio rerio), a tropical freshwater species, and sardine (Sardina pilchardus), belonging to the Clupeidae family that is a typical pelagic species living in open sea waters
We analyzed the total content of amino acids in the eyes of two fish species: zebrafish (Danio rerio) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) at the larval stage
Summary
Recent studies led to the discovery that the genes involved in the eye ontogeny are conserved and that all of the eyes are monophyletic, that is, they arose from a single eye origin (Gehring and Ikeo 1999; Russell et al 2000; Fernald 2000). The evolutionary phenomenon that led to the development of complex eyes, as those of According to the Darwinist idea that animals adapted to the environment where they live in order to survive to specific environmental pressures, changes in amino acid composition (AAC) and density patterns of pelagic and mesopelagic fish larvae were evidenced in relation to oceanographic phenomenon in different areas of the Central Mediterranean Sea (Cuttitta et al 2004, 2006; Bonanno et al 2013) Another factor that could affect the biochemical composition of the tissues is that their synthesis during the larval development happens at different times and rates (Osse et al 1997).
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