A. Angers et al., TISSUE-SPECIFICITY AND ONTOGENY OF LACTATE-DEHYDROGENASE IN SNOW CRAB, CHIONOECETES-OPILIO (BRACHYURA, MAJIDAE), Comparative biochemistry and physiology. B. Comparative biochemistry, 108(3), 1994, pp. 385-395
In the snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio (Brachyura: Majidae), LDH is pre
sent in five isozymic forms, as revealed by the five coloration zones
in zymograms. This is characteristic of a tetrameric LDH enzyme formed
by the random association between two distinct sub-units. Isozymes of
C. opilio LDH show tissue specificity. No LDH activity is detected in
the hepatopancreas. The LDH-B locus is expressed in all other tissue
s examined, except the eye, in which LDH-A is the only locus detected
. Both loci are expressed in nervous, midgut and leg muscle tissues, t
he last showing individual variability. At least among males, the LDH-
B locus is expressed in leg muscle tissue at every developmental stag
e, while LDH-A locus expression is initiated only in the VIIth post-l
arval stage, just before the onset of gametogenesis. Results suggest t
hat LDH sub-units in C. opilio have distinct physiological roles. This
is very well known in vertebrates, but is virtually undocumented in i
nvertebrates.