QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online January 5, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 309-316 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01410

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Grillitsch, S. Articles by Pelster, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grillitsch, S. Articles by Pelster, B. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The influence of environmental P_O2 on hemoglobin oxygen saturation in developing zebrafish Danio rerio

Sandra Grillitsch^1,2, Nikolaus Medgyesy^1,2, Thorsten Schwerte^1,2 and Bernd Pelster^1,2,*

¹ Institute for Zoology and Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Austria
² Center for Molecular Biosciences, Innsbruck, Austria

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: bernd.pelster{at}uibk.ac.at)

Accepted 24 November 2004

Several studies suggest that during early larval development of lower vertebrates convective blood flow is not essential to supply oxygen to the tissues, but information about the oxygenation status of larvae during the time of cutaneous respiration is still missing. If convective oxygen transport contributes to the oxygen supply to tissues, venous blood in the central circulatory system should be partly deoxygenated, and hyperoxia should increase the oxygen saturation of the hemoglobin. To analyze the changes in hemoglobin oxygen saturation induced by hyperoxic incubation, zebrafish larvae were incubated in a tiny chamber between polytetrafluoroethylene membranes (Teflon), so that the oxygen supply could be rapidly modified. Hemoglobin oxygen saturation was measured in vivo by combining video imaging techniques with a spectrophotometrical analysis of hemoglobin light absorption at specific wavelengths for maximal absorption of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood (413 nm and 431 nm, respectively) under normoxic conditions and after a 10 min period of hyperoxia (P_O2=100 kPa), assuming that at a P_O2 of 100 kPa the hemoglobin is fully saturated. The results demonstrated that red blood cell oxygenation of zebrafish larvae at 4 days post fertilization (d.p.f.), 5 d.p.f. and 12 d.p.f. could be increased by hyperoxia. The data suggest that at the time of yolk sac degradation (i.e. 4 d.p.f. and 5 d.p.f.), when the total surface area of the animal is reduced, bulk diffusion of oxygen may not be sufficient to prevent a partial deoxygenation of the hemoglobin. The decrease in hemoglobin oxygenation observed at 12 d.p.f. confirms earlier studies indicating that at 12–14 d.p.f., convective oxygen transport becomes necessary to ensure oxygen supply to the growing tissues.

Key words: ontogeny, oxygen exchange, circulatory system, heart, zebrafish, Danio rerio

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. M. Gilmour, K. Thomas, A. J. Esbaugh, and S. F. Perry Carbonic anhydrase expression and CO2 excretion during early development in zebrafish Danio rerio J. Exp. Biol., December 1, 2009; 212(23): 3837 - 3845. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. van Rooijen, E. E. Voest, I. Logister, J. Korving, T. Schwerte, S. Schulte-Merker, R. H. Giles, and F. J. van Eeden Zebrafish mutants in the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor display a hypoxic response and recapitulate key aspects of Chuvash polycythemia Blood, June 18, 2009; 113(25): 6449 - 6460. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]