Antifreeze protein dispersion in eelpouts and related fishes reveals migration and climate alteration within the last 20 Ma.

ABSTRACT: Antifreeze proteins inhibit ice growth and are crucial for the survival of supercooled fish living in icy seawater. Of the four antifreeze protein types found in fishes, the globular type III from eelpouts is the one restricted to a single infraorder (Zoarcales), which is the only clade know to have antifreeze protein-producing species at both poles. Our analysis of over 60 unique antifreeze protein gene sequences from several Zoarcales species indicates this gene family arose around 18 Ma ago, in the Northern Hemisphere, supporting recent data suggesting that the Arctic Seas were ice-laden earlier than originally thought. The Antarctic was subject to widespread glaciation over 30 Ma and the Notothenioid fishes that produce an unrelated antifreeze glycoprotein extensively exploited the adj

SUBMITTER: Hobbs RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7737890 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature