Biosynthesis of ascorbic acid by extant actinopterygians

Abstract

Polypterus senegalus, the longnose gar Lepisosteus osseus and the bowfin Amia calva had gulonolactone oxidase activity in the kidney and thus can synthesize ascorbic acid de novo. The enzyme activity was associated with the microsomal fraction. The common carp Cyprinus carpio and the goldfish Carassius auratus had no gulonolactone oxidase activity. Antibodies directed against white sturgeon gulonolactone oxidase showed cross-reactivity with lake sturgeon, bowfin and longnose gar kidney enzymes, but not with enzymes from Polypterus, sea lamprey, and tadpole kidney or pig liver. Given cross-reactivity, gulonolactone oxidase relatedness matched actinopterygian phylogeny, and suggested homology of the character throughout fishes. Modern teleosts may have lost the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid since the late Triassic as a result of a single reversal in the founding population. Wild bowfin and longnose gar exhibited high ascorbate concentrations in liver and spleen when compared with the teleosts rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and common carp fed vitamin C-supplemented diets. 2000 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

Ascorbic acid and reproduction in fish: endocrine regulation and gamete quality

“…Ascorbic acid is an essential micronutrient in the diet of teleost ®sh, although it can be synthesized de novo in Chondrostei (e.g. acipenserids) (Dabrowski 1994;Moreau & Dabrowski 2000). The ascorbic acid requirement for different teleost ®sh has been well debated.…”

Inactivation dates of the human and guinea pig vitamin C genes

“…The inability of teleost fish, such as the rainbow trout, the Japanese medaka, and the common carp, to biosynthesize vitamin C has been well documented (Dabrowski 1990(Dabrowski , 1994Toyohara et al 1996;Krasnov et al 1998;Moreau and Dabrowski 2000;Hwang and Lin 2002). Since several ancestral actinopterygian fish species have been observed to retain this ability and that all teleost fish tested so far cannot synthesize vitamin C, the inactivating mutation must have occurred shortly after the divergence of these two lineages, some 200 to 210 MYA (Dabrowski 1994;Moreau and Dabrowski 2000).…”

“…Since several ancestral actinopterygian fish species have been observed to retain this ability and that all teleost fish tested so far cannot synthesize vitamin C, the inactivating mutation must have occurred shortly after the divergence of these two lineages, some 200 to 210 MYA (Dabrowski 1994;Moreau and Dabrowski 2000). Given this long Genetica (2011) 139:199-207 203 timescale, it is quite understandable that no GLO orthologues could be retrieved from the available teleost genomes.…”

Identification of a Novel Nucleobase-Ascorbate Transporter Family Member in Fish and Amphibians

“…Seminal ascorbate was reported to be affected by seasonal variations and semen quality was shown to improve upon dietary ascorbic acid supplementation [36,37], contrasting with the amphibian L. booroolongensis [32]. In the case of non-teleost fish, such as Chondrostei (A. ruthenus) and Holostei (L. oculatus), a functional GLO gene is retained, providing endogenously synthesized ascorbate [38]. Curiously, no gonadal expression was detected in the Neoteleostei O. latipes.…”