Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Does the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism explain the size dependence of metabolic rate in marine mussels? / Sukhotin, Alexey; Fokina, Natalia; Ruokolainen, Tatiana; Bock, Christian; Pörtner, Hans Otto; Lannig, Gisela.
In: Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 220, No. 8, 15.04.2017, p. 1423-1434.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Does the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism explain the size dependence of metabolic rate in marine mussels?
AU - Sukhotin, Alexey
AU - Fokina, Natalia
AU - Ruokolainen, Tatiana
AU - Bock, Christian
AU - Pörtner, Hans Otto
AU - Lannig, Gisela
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
PY - 2017/4/15
Y1 - 2017/4/15
N2 - According to the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism (MPT), allometric scaling of metabolic rate in animals is determined by the composition of cellular and mitochondrial membranes, which changes with body size in a predictable manner. MPT has been elaborated from interspecific comparisons in mammals. It projects that the degree of unsaturation of membrane phospholipids decreases in larger organisms, thereby lowering ion permeability of the membranes and making cellular, and thus whole-animal metabolism more efficient. Here, we tested the applicability of the MPT to a marine ectotherm, the mussel Mytilus edulis at the intraspecific level. We determined effects of body mass on wholeorganism, tissue and cellular oxygen consumption rates, on heart rate, metabolic enzyme activities and on the lipid composition of membranes. In line with allometric patterns, the organismal functions and processes such as heart rate, whole-animal respiration rate and phospholipid contents showed a mass-dependent decline. However, the allometry of tissue and cellular respiration and activity of metabolic enzymes was poor; fatty acid unsaturation of membrane phospholipids of gill tissue was independent of animal size. It is thus conceivable that most of the metabolic allometry observed at the organismal level is determined by systemic functions. These wholeorganism patterns may be supported by energy savings associated with growing cell size but not by structural changes in membranes. Overall, the set of processes contributing to metabolic allometry in ectotherms may differ from that operative in mammals and birds, with a reduced involvement of the mechanisms proposed by the MPT.
AB - According to the membrane pacemaker theory of metabolism (MPT), allometric scaling of metabolic rate in animals is determined by the composition of cellular and mitochondrial membranes, which changes with body size in a predictable manner. MPT has been elaborated from interspecific comparisons in mammals. It projects that the degree of unsaturation of membrane phospholipids decreases in larger organisms, thereby lowering ion permeability of the membranes and making cellular, and thus whole-animal metabolism more efficient. Here, we tested the applicability of the MPT to a marine ectotherm, the mussel Mytilus edulis at the intraspecific level. We determined effects of body mass on wholeorganism, tissue and cellular oxygen consumption rates, on heart rate, metabolic enzyme activities and on the lipid composition of membranes. In line with allometric patterns, the organismal functions and processes such as heart rate, whole-animal respiration rate and phospholipid contents showed a mass-dependent decline. However, the allometry of tissue and cellular respiration and activity of metabolic enzymes was poor; fatty acid unsaturation of membrane phospholipids of gill tissue was independent of animal size. It is thus conceivable that most of the metabolic allometry observed at the organismal level is determined by systemic functions. These wholeorganism patterns may be supported by energy savings associated with growing cell size but not by structural changes in membranes. Overall, the set of processes contributing to metabolic allometry in ectotherms may differ from that operative in mammals and birds, with a reduced involvement of the mechanisms proposed by the MPT.
KW - Allometric scaling
KW - Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Cells
KW - Enzyme activity
KW - Fatty acids
KW - Heart rate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018549443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1242/jeb.147108
DO - 10.1242/jeb.147108
M3 - Article
C2 - 28153981
AN - SCOPUS:85018549443
VL - 220
SP - 1423
EP - 1434
JO - Journal of Experimental Biology
JF - Journal of Experimental Biology
SN - 0022-0949
IS - 8
ER -
ID: 97810177