ACTIVITY AND EXPRESSION OF GLUTAMATE OXALOACETATE TRANSAMINASE DURINGTHE REPRODUCTIVE-CYCLE OF A FRESH-WATER FISH LABEO-ROHITA

The activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) were measu red spectrophotometricaIly from five tissues (liver, heart, kidney, br ain, and ovary) of a non air-breathing, herbivorous fresh water fish L abeo rohita. The activities were measured separately for cytosolic (c- ) GOT and mitochondrial (m-) GOT. For all tissues examined, the maximu m activities were observed in the spawning phase, followed by the pre- and post-spawning phases for both c- and m-GOTs. The native agarose g el electrophoretic pattern revealed two GOT forms of different charges throughout the pre- to post-spawning phases. However, the spawning ph ase was marked by the expression of an additional anionic form of GOT in all tissues studied. These results indicate a distinct utilization of aspartate particularly iri the spawning phase in fish via transamin ation reactions.