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The Use of the Patch-Clamp Technique to Study the Thermogenic Capacity of Mitochondria

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Universal constant for heat production in protists.

Matthew D Johnson¹, Jens Völker, Holly V Moeller

¹Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. johnson@marine.rutgers.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|April 7, 2009

Summary

Metabolic heat production in single-celled eukaryotes is constant across vast size ranges. This finding challenges existing allometric models and suggests evolutionary constraints on protist metabolism.

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Hot Biological Catalysis: Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Characterize Enzymatic Reactions

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Area of Science:

Metabolic Heat Production
Cellular Energetics
Eukaryotic Microbiology

Background:

Metabolism scaling in organisms often follows allometric principles.
Protists exhibit extreme diversity in size and biomass.
Understanding protist metabolism is crucial for ecological and evolutionary insights.

Purpose of the Study:

To directly measure metabolic heat production in diverse eukaryotic protists.
To investigate the relationship between heat production, cell mass, and surface area.
To determine the applicability of allometric models to protists.

Main Methods:

Utilized a high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimeter in isothermal mode.
Measured heat production across five protist phyla.
Covered a range of 5 orders of magnitude in carbon biomass and 8 orders of magnitude in cell volume.

Main Results:

Metabolic heat production normalized to cell mass was virtually constant (median 0.037 pW pg C(-1) at 5°C).
Heat production scaled isometrically with cell carbon content (exponent 1.056) and surface area (exponent 1.057).
Constant heat flux per unit surface area suggests cells are isothermal with their environment.

Conclusions:

Allometric models derived from metazoans are not applicable to protists.
Protist metabolic processes are constrained by evolutionary selection.
Constant heat production may relate to cytoplasmic organization and resource diffusion.