Hypoxia Tolerance of Two Killifish Species

Hypoxia tolerance in aquatic ectotherms involves a suite of behavioral and physiological responses at the organismal, tissue, and cellular levels. The current study evaluated two closely related killifish species (Fundulus heteroclitus, Fundulus majalis) to evaluate responses to acute moderate and acute severe hypoxia. Routine metabolic rate and loss of equilibrium were assessed, followed by analysis in skeletal muscle of markers of oxidative damage to proteins (2,4-DNPH), lipids (4-HNE), and DNA (8-OHdG), hypoxia signaling (HIF1α, HIF2α), cellular energy state (p-AMPK: AMPK), and protein degradation (Ubiquitin, LC3B, Calpain 2, Hsp70). Both species had a similar reduction in metabolic rate at low PO2. However, F. heteroclitus was the more hypoxia-tolerant species based on a lower PO2 at which there was loss of equilibrium, perhaps due in part to a lower oxygen demand at all oxygen tensions. Despite the differences in hypoxia tolerance between the species, skeletal muscle molecular markers were largely insensitive to hypoxia, and there were few differences in responses between the species. Thus, the metabolic depression observed at the whole animal level appears to limit perturbations in skeletal muscle in both species during the hypoxia treatments.