Abstract
Populations of the teleost fish Fundulus heteroclitus arc subjected to the clinal variation in environmental temperatures that occurs along the eastern seacoast of North America. In concordance with this change in temperature is the clinal variation in the enzyme concentration of the heart-type lactate dehydrogenase (LDH-B; E.C.1.1.1.27). Previously we have shown that the compensating change in the LDH-B enzyme concentration is due to a change in the amount of LDH-B mRNA, but we did not define whether this was due to differences in mRNA stability or to differences in rate of transcription. The results presented here help clarify the molecular mechanism responsible for the variation in Ldh-B gene expression: the rate of transcription from the Ldh-B locus is significantly different between populations, and this difference is responsible for the compensatory change in LDH-B enzyme concentration.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 806-813 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Molecular biology and evolution |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 5 |
State | Published - Jan 1 1992 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Evolutionary adaptation
- Fundulus heteroclitus
- Lactate dehydroeenase
- Transcription rate
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- Biochemistry
- Genetics(clinical)
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Molecular Biology