Temperature and the energy cost of oscillatory work in teleost fast muscle fibres

Abstract

Bundles of 20–30 fast muscle fibres were isolated from the abdominal myotomes of the short-horned sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius L.). The energy cost of contraction was measured during oscillatory work at 4 °C and 15 °C following treatment with iodoacetate and nitrogen gas to block glycolysis and aerobic metabolism. Isolated fibres were subjected to sinusoidal length changes about in situ resting length and stimulated at a selected phase in the strain cycle. Preliminary experiments with untreated preparations established the strain amplitude and stimulation parameters required to maximize work output over a range of cycle frequencies at 4 °C and 15 °C. Following oscillatory work, treated preparations were rapidly frozen, freeze-dried and the concentrations of phosphocreatine (PCr), creatine, adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP), adenosine 5′- di- and mono-phosphate and inosine 5-monophosphate measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The concentration of PCr declined in proportion to the total work done for up to 64 cycles without a significant change in ATP. Maximum power output was produced at a cycle frequency of 5 Hz at 4 °C (14–18 W/kg) and 17 Hz at 15 °C (23–27 W/kg). The rate of utilization of PCr per cycle was independent of temperature. However, since work per cycle was higher at 4 °C (2.7–3.7 mJ/g wet weight) than 15 °C (1.2–1.6 mJ/g wet weight), the energetic cost of contraction decreased with increasing temperature.