Gene expression variation in duplicate lactate dehydrogenase genes: do ecological species show distinct responses?

Abstract

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has been shown to play an important role in adaptation of several aquatic species to different habitats. The genomes of Daphnia pulex, a pond species, and Daphnia pulicaria, a lake inhabitant, encode two L-LDH enzymes, LDHA and LDHB. We estimated relative levels of Ldh gene expression in these two closely related species and their hybrids in four environmental settings, each characterized by one of two temperatures (10°C or 20°C), and one of two concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO; 6.5-7 mg/l or 2-3 mg/l). We found that levels of LdhA expression were 4 to 48 times higher than LdhB expression (p0.1). Given that Daphnia dwell in environments characterized by fluctuating conditions with long periods of low dissolved oxygen concentration, we suggest that these species could employ regulated metabolic depression to survive in such environments.