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Protein degradation systems in the skeletal muscles of parr and smolt Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. and brown trout Salmo trutta L.

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Abstract

Although protein degradation limits the rate of muscle growth in fish, the role of proteolytic systems responsible for degrading myofibrillar proteins in skeletal muscle is not well defined. The study herein aims to evaluate the role of calpains (calcium-activated proteases) and proteasomes (ATP-dependent proteases) in mediating muscle protein turnover at different life stages in wild salmonids. Protease activities were estimated in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) parr and smolts from the Indera River (Kola Peninsula, Russia). Calpain and proteasome activities in Atlantic salmon skeletal muscles were lower in smolts as compared with parr. Reduced muscle protein degradation accompanying Atlantic salmon parr-smolt transformation appeared to provide intense muscle growth essential for a minimum threshold size achievement that is required for smoltification. Calpain and proteasome activities in brown trout parr and smolts at age 3+ did not significantly differ. However, calpain activity was higher in smolts brown trout 4+ as compared with parr, while proteasome activity was lower. Results suggest that brown trout smoltification does not correspond with intense muscle growth and is more facultative and plastic in comparison with Atlantic salmon smoltification. Obtained data on muscle protein degradation capacity as well as length-weight parameters of fish reflect differences between salmon and trout in growth and smoltification strategies.

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Acknowledgments

Salmonid fish catch and study were conducted in the accordance with a resolution no. 51 2015 03 0119 by Barentsevo-Belomorskoye territorial department of the Federal Agency for Fisheries. We are grateful to Denis Efremov and Mikhail Ruchyev for their assistance in field experiments. The research was supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation, project 14-24-00102 “Salmonids of the northwestern Russia: Ecological and biochemical mechanisms of the early development”.

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  1. Institute of Biology, Karelian Research Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushkinskaya Str., 11, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, 185910

    Nadezda P. Kantserova, Liudmila A. Lysenko, Alexey E. Veselov & Nina N. Nemova

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  1. Nadezda P. Kantserova
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  2. Liudmila A. Lysenko
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  3. Alexey E. Veselov
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Correspondence to Nadezda P. Kantserova.

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Kantserova, N.P., Lysenko, L.A., Veselov, A.E. et al. Protein degradation systems in the skeletal muscles of parr and smolt Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. and brown trout Salmo trutta L.. Fish Physiol Biochem 43, 1187–1194 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-017-0364-1

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