Abstract
Adult marine mammal muscles rely upon a suite of adaptations for sustained aerobic metabolism in the absence of freely available oxygen (O2). Although the importance of these adaptations for supporting aerobic diving patterns of adults is well understood, little is known about postnatal muscle development in young marine mammals. However, the typical pattern of vertebrate muscle development, and reduced tissue O2 stores and diving ability of young marine mammals suggest that the physiological properties of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) pup muscle will differ from those of adults. We examined myoglobin (Mb) concentration, and the activities of citrate synthase (CS), β-hydroxyacyl coA dehydrogenase (HOAD), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in muscle biopsies from harbor seal pups throughout the nursing period, and compared these biochemical parameters to those of adults. Pups had reduced O2 carrying capacity ([Mb] 28–41% lower than adults) and reduced metabolically scaled catabolic enzyme activities (LDH/RMR 20–58% and CS/RMR 29–89% lower than adults), indicating that harbor seal pup muscles are biochemically immature at birth and weaning. This suggests that pup muscles do not have the ability to support either the aerobic or anaerobic performance of adult seals. This immaturity may contribute to the lower diving capacity and behavior in younger pups. In addition, the trends in myoglobin concentration and enzyme activity seen in this study appear to be developmental and/or exercise-driven responses that together work to produce the hypoxic endurance phenotype seen in adults, rather than allometric effects due to body size.
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to the 2000–2002 field crews for their hardwork and enthusiasm, most notably: P. Carter, D. Dion, Y. Dubé, J. Gosselin, D. Greaves, J. Greig, J. Lapierre, S. Turgeon, and G. Yunker. Thanks to L. Polasek for laboratory assistance. Funding for this work was provided by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through an Operating Grant to JFS, and contributions from Alaska EPSCoR (NSF EPS-0346770) to JMB and JSP. Research protocols were approved by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the University of Alaska Anchorage Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Samples were imported under MMPA Permit # 1003-1646-00.
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Prewitt, J.S., Freistroffer, D.V., Schreer, J.F. et al. Postnatal development of muscle biochemistry in nursing harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) pups: limitations to diving behavior?. J Comp Physiol B 180, 757–766 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0448-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0448-z