A sodium binding system alleviates acute salt stress during seawater acclimation in eels.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Teleosts transiting from freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) environments face an immediate osmotic stress from ion influxes and water loss, but some euryhaline species such as eels can maintain a stable plasma osmolality during early SW exposure. The time course changes in the gene expression, protein abundance, and localization of key ion transporters suggested that the reversal of the ion transport systems was gradual, and we investigate how eels utilize a Na-binding strategy to slow down the ion invasion and complement the transporter-mediated osmoregulation.

Results

Using an electron probe micro-analyzer, we localized bound Na in various eel tissues in response to SW transfer, suggesting that the Na-binding molecules were produced to sequester excess ionic Na

SUBMITTER: Wong MKS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5727781 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature