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First published online January 31, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 656-667 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02036

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Temperature sensitivities of cytosolic malate dehydrogenases from native and invasive species of marine mussels (genus Mytilus): sequence-function linkages and correlations with biogeographic distribution

Peter A. Fields^1,*, Emily L. Rudomin¹ and George N. Somero²

¹ Biology Department, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604-3003, USA
² Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: peter.fields{at}fandm.edu)

Accepted 13 December 2005

The blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, a native of the Mediterranean Sea, has invaded the west coast of North America in the past century, displacing the native blue mussel, Mytilus trossulus, from most of its former habitats in central and southern California. The invasive success of M. galloprovincialis is conjectured to be due, in part, to physiological adaptations that enable it to outperform M. trossulus at high temperatures. We have examined the structure and function of the enzyme cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cMDH) from these species, as well as from the more distantly related ribbed mussel, Mytilus californianus, to characterize the effects of temperature on kinetic properties thought to exhibit thermal adaptation. The M. trossulus cMDH ortholog differs from the other cMDHs in a direction consistent with cold adaptation, as evidenced by a higher and more temperature-sensitive Michaelis-Menten constant for the cofactor NADH (K_m^NADH). This difference results from minor changes in sequence: the M. trossulus ortholog differs from the M. galloprovincialis ortholog by only two substitutions in the 334 amino acid monomer, and the M. californianus and M. trossulus orthologs differ by five substitutions. In each case, only one of these substitutions is non-conservative. To test the effects of individual substitutions on kinetic properties, we used site-directed mutagenesis to create recombinant cMDHs. Recombinant wild-type M. trossulus cMDH (rWT) has high K_m^NADH compared with mutants incorporating the non-conservative substitutions found in M. californianus and M. galloprovincialis - V114H and V114N, respectively - demonstrating that these mutations are responsible for the differences found in substrate affinity. Turnover number (k_cat) is also higher in rWT compared with the two mutants, consistent with cold adaptation in the M. trossulus ortholog. Conversely, rWT and V114H appear more thermostable than V114N. Based on a comparison of K_m^NADH and k_cat values among the orthologs, we propose that immersion temperatures are of greater selective importance in adapting kinetic properties than the more extreme temperatures that occur during emersion. The relative warm adaptation of M. galloprovincialis cMDH may be one of a suite of physiological characters that enhance the competitive ability of this invasive species in warm habitats.

Key words: cytosolic malate dehydrogenase, invasive species, Mytilus, temperature adaptation, site-directed mutagenesis.

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