Differences in locomotor performance between individuals: importance of parvalbumin, calcium handling and metabolism
- Authors
- Seebacher, F., and Walter, I.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-120127-12
- Date
- 2012
- Source
- The Journal of experimental biology 215(4): 663-670 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- sustained locomotion, sprint performance, ryanodine receptor, SERCA, dihydropyridine receptor, gene expression, electroporation
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Calcium/metabolism*
- Calcium Channels, L-Type/genetics
- Calcium Channels, L-Type/metabolism
- Carrier Proteins/genetics
- Carrier Proteins/metabolism
- Creatine Kinase/metabolism
- Electroporation
- Energy Metabolism*
- Gene Expression Regulation
- Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism
- PPAR delta/genetics
- PPAR delta/metabolism
- Parvalbumins/metabolism*
- RNA, Messenger/metabolism
- Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel/genetics
- Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel/metabolism
- Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases/genetics
- Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium-Transporting ATPases/metabolism
- Swimming/physiology*
- Transcription Factors/biosynthesis
- Transcription Factors/genetics
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/biosynthesis
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- PubMed
- 22279074 Full text @ J. Exp. Biol.
Locomotor performance is linked to fitness and health of animals and is expected to be under strong selection. However, interindividual variation in locomotor performance is pronounced in many species. It was our aim to investigate the relative importance of energy metabolism and calcium handling in determining sprint and sustained locomotion in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Sprint and sustained performance (Ucrit) varied independently from each other. Using in vivo electroporation, we found that increased parvalbumin protein concentration improved both sprint and sustained locomotion. This is the first demonstration that parvalbumin plays a role in determining whole-animal performance. High sprint performance fish had greater mRNA concentrations of the metabolic regulators PPARδ and PGC1β compared with fish with poor sprint performance. High sustained performance fish, in contrast, had greater concentrations of PGC-1α and PGC-1β. The increased expression of these metabolic regulators indicates an enhancement of the metabolic machinery in high performance animals. Sprint performance is also enhanced by creatine kinase activity, which may be associated with increased PPARδ mRNA concentration. Ryanodine receptor (RyR) and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase 1 (SERCA1) mRNA concentrations were significantly increased in high sustained performance fish, while parvalbumin 2, dihydropyridine (DHPR) receptor and SERCA2 mRNA levels were increased in fish with high sprint velocities. Sustained performance was more sensitive to experimentally induced decreases in RyR and DHPR activity than sprint performance. We provide mechanistic explanations of why locomotor performance differs between individuals, which is important for understanding ecological and sporting success, disease and the evolutionary processes underlying selection.