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Measurement of the rate of protein turnover and synthesis in the marsupial Honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus)

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Abstract

Rates of protein turnover and synthesis were measured in wild-caught Honey possums (Tarsipes rostratus) in the southwest of Western Australia and compared between males and females with and without pouch young. Possums were injected with 50 μg of 15N-glycine and ammonia collected within 24 h was used as the nitrogen end-product in a single-injection protocol. The overall mean rate of protein synthesis measured was 7.7 ± 0.5 g kg−0.75 day−1, which falls within the range of values reported for other marsupial species. Whole body rates of nitrogen flux and protein synthesis did not vary significantly between males and females with and without young, but females with pouch young showed significantly lower rates of protein synthesis when expressed in relation to metabolic body size. This difference was no longer apparent, however, if the mass of the females was corrected for the estimated mass of the young in the pouch averaging 9.3 ± 1.6 g kg−0.75 day−1 and suggesting that the young should not be considered as part of the metabolic body pool. Whole body rates of protein degradation were significantly reduced in females carrying pouch young, suggesting that protein may be being diverted from the pool to milk production. Calculations indicate that the daily fraction of the female’s nitrogen synthesis rate that needs to be diverted to pouch young to sustain their growth is less than 5%, and may not be detectable with the current methodology.

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Acknowledgments

The financial assistance of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering (AINSE) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights is gratefully acknowledged, along with that of the many ANSTO personnel who have assisted in the development of the methodology. These include David Cohen, Nick Dytlewski, Mike Hotchkiss, Geraldine Jacobsen, Alan Williams, Linda Barry and Dennis Mather. Ian Hume also provided comments on an early draft of this manuscript and we acknowledge the helpful suggestions of two anonymous reviewers. The study was further supported financially by the Australian Research Committee (ARC) and all animal procedures were approved by the University of WA’s Animal Ethics Committee (Project No. 04/100/117). The capture and study of Honey possums in Scott National Park was approved under permit No. SF005330 from the State Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).

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  1. School of Animal Biology M092, Centre for Native Animal Research (CNAR), University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    S. D. Bradshaw & F. J. Bradshaw

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  1. S. D. Bradshaw
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  2. F. J. Bradshaw
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Correspondence to S. D. Bradshaw.

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Communicated by I. D. Hume.

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Bradshaw, S.D., Bradshaw, F.J. Measurement of the rate of protein turnover and synthesis in the marsupial Honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). J Comp Physiol B 179, 183–192 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0301-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0301-9

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