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Open AccessArticle

Metabolomic Profiling Reveals Differences in Hypoxia Response between Far Eastern and Siberian Frogs

by Sergei V. Shekhovtsov, Nina A. Bulakhova, Yuri P. Tsentalovich, Ekaterina A. Zelentsova, Nataliya A. Osik, Ekaterina N. Meshcheryakova, Tatiana V. Poluboyarova and Daniil I. Berman

Animals 2023, 13(21), 3349; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13213349 - 27 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1535

Abstract

Anoxia is a significant challenge for most animals, as it can lead to tissue damage and death. Among amphibians, the Siberian frog Rana amurensis is the only known species capable of surviving near-zero levels of oxygen in water for a prolonged period. In this study, we aimed to compare metabolomic profiles of the liver, brain, and heart of the Siberian frog exposed to long-term oxygen deprivation (approximately 0.2 mg/L water) with those of the susceptible Far Eastern frog (Rana dybowskii) subjected to short-term hypoxia to the limits of its tolerance. One of the most pronounced features was that the organs of the Far Eastern frog contained more lactate than those of the Siberian frog despite a much shorter exposure time. The amounts of succinate were similar between the two species. Interestingly, glycerol and 2,3-butanediol were found to be significantly accumulated under hypoxia in the Siberian frog, but not in the Far Eastern frog. The role and biosynthesis of these substances are still unclear, but they are most likely formed in certain side pathways of glycolysis. Based on the obtained data, we suggest a pathway for metabolic changes in the Siberian frog under anoxia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Herpetology)

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26 pages, 5626 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Diversity of Antimicrobial Peptides in Three Partially Sympatric Frog Species in Northeast Asia and Implications for Evolution

by Qing Wang, Rui Xia, Jing Jing Ji, Qian Zhu, Xiao Ping Li, Yue Ma and Yan Chun Xu

Genes 2020, 11(2), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11020158 - 1 Feb 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4411

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionarily ancient molecules that play an essential role in innate immunity across taxa from invertebrates to vertebrates. The evolution system of AMP system has not been well explained in the literature. In this study, we cloned and sequenced AMP transcriptomes of three frog species, namely Rana dybowskii, Rana amurensis, and Pelophylax nigromaculatus, which are partially sympatric in northeast Asia, but show different habitat preferences. We found that each species contained 7 to 14 families of AMPs and the diversity was higher in species with a large geographic range and greater habitat variation. All AMPs are phylogenetically related but not associated with the speciation process. Most AMP genes were under negative selection. We propose that the diversification and addition of novel functions and improvement of antimicrobial efficiency are facilitated by the expansion of family members and numbers. We also documented significant negative correlation of net charges and numbers of amino acid residues between the propiece and mature peptide segments. This supports the Net Charge Balance Hypothesis. We propose the Cut Point Sliding Hypothesis as a novel diversification mechanism to explain the correlation in lengths of the two segments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Animal Genetics and Genomics)

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