Differential expression of genes and proteins between electric organ and skeletal muscle in the mormyrid electric fish<i>Brienomyrus brachyistius</i>

Gallant, Jason R.; Hopkins, Carl D.; Deitcher, David L.

doi:10.1242/jeb.063222

Cited by 27 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…However, this wavy appearance was detected in all three C. tamandua specimens examined and absent in any specimen of the other three species with non-penetrating stalk. Interestingly, the same wavy appearance is also visible in other mormyrids with penetrating stalks such as Paramormyrops kingsleyae or Brienomyrus brachyistius (Gallant et al 2011(Gallant et al , 2012.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Comparative histology of the adult electric organ among four species of the genus Campylomormyrus (Teleostei: Mormyridae)

et al. 2015

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The electric organ (EO) of weakly electric mormyrids consists of flat, disk-shaped electrocytes with distinct anterior and posterior faces. There are multiple species-characteristic patterns in the geometry of the electrocytes and their innervation. To further correlate electric organ discharge (EOD) with EO anatomy, we examined four species of the mormyrid genus Campylomormyrus possessing clearly distinct EODs. In C. compressirostris, C. numenius, and C. tshokwe, all of which display biphasic EODs, the posterior face of the electrocytes forms evaginations merging to a stalk system receiving the innervation. In C. tamandua that emits a triphasic EOD, the small stalks of the electrocyte penetrate the electrocyte anteriorly before merging on the anterior side to receive the innervation. Additional differences in electrocyte anatomy among the former three species with the same EO geometry could be associated with further characteristics of their EODs. Furthermore, in C. numenius, ontogenetic changes in EO anatomy correlate with profound changes in the EOD. In the juvenile the anterior face of the electrocyte is smooth, whereas in the adult it exhibits pronounced surface foldings. This anatomical difference, together with disparities in the degree of stalk furcation, probably contributes to the about 12 times longer EOD in the adult.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Comparative histology of the adult electric organ among four species of the genus Campylomormyrus (Teleostei: Mormyridae)

et al. 2015

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“…Advances in electrophysiological techniques allowed investigation of the ionic basis of the electrocyte discharge, revealing mechanisms of EOD waveform plasticity and mounting evidence that signal variation across species relies not only on different cellular morphology but also on the recruitment of very different combinations of ion channels. Newly developed molecular analyses have revealed striking rates of molecular evolution in electrocytes as well as hints of the mechanisms by which electrocytes are created from skeletal muscle (Gallant et al, 2012;Kim et al, 2004). Finally, the growing realization that the energetic demands of electrogenesis place important constraints on the function of electrosensory and electrocommunication systems (e.g.…”

Section: Electrocytes: the Cellular Basis Of Electrogenesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrocyte physiology: 50 years later

Markham

2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SummaryWeakly electric gymnotiform and mormyrid fish generate and detect weak electric fields to image their worlds and communicate. These multi-purpose electric signals are generated by electrocytes, the specialized electric organ (EO) cells that produce the electric organ discharge (EOD). Just over 50years ago the first experimental analyses of electrocyte physiology demonstrated that the EOD is produced and shaped by the timing and waveform of electrocyte action potentials (APs). Electrocytes of some species generate a single AP from a distinct region of excitable membrane, and this AP waveform determines EOD waveform. In other species, electrocytes possess two independent regions of excitable membrane that generate asynchronous APs with different waveforms, thereby increasing EOD complexity. Signal complexity is further enhanced in some gymnotiforms by the spatio-temporal activation of distinct EO regions with different electrocyte properties. For many mormyrids, additional EOD waveform components are produced by APs that propagate along stalks that connect postsynaptic regions to the main body of the electrocyte. I review here the history of research on electrocyte physiology in weakly electric fish, as well as recent discoveries of key phenomena not anticipated during early work in this field. Recent areas of investigation include the regulation of electrocyte activity by steroid and peptide hormones, the molecular evolution of electrocyte ion channels, and the evolutionary selection of ion channels expressed in excitable cells. These emerging research areas have generated renewed interest in electrocyte function and clear future directions for research addressing a broad range of new and important questions.

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“…); (ii) distribution of ion channels on the cell surface (Gallant et al . ); (iii) modifications on active sites of ion channels; and (iv) differences in their expression levels across different tissues (Zakon et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

De novo assembly and characterization of the skeletal muscle and electric organ transcriptomes of the African weakly electric fish Campylomormyrus compressirostris (Mormyridae, Teleostei)

Lamanna

Kirschbaum

Tiedemann

2014

Molecular Ecology Resources

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African weakly electric fishes (Mormyridae) underwent an outstanding adaptive radiation (about 200 species), putatively owing to their ability to communicate through species-specific weak electric signals. The electric organ discharge (EOD) is produced by muscle-derived electrocytes organized in piles to form an electric organ. Despite the importance of this trait as a prezygotic isolation mechanism, genomic resources remained limited. We present here a first draft of the skeletal muscle and electric organ transcriptomes from the weakly electric fish species Campylomormyrus compressirostris, obtained using the Illumina HiSeq2000 sequencing technology. Approximately 6.8 Gbp of cDNA sequence data were produced from both tissues, resulting in 57,268,109 raw reads for the skeletal muscle and 46,934,923 for the electric organ, and assembled de novo into 46,143 and 89,270 contigs, respectively. About 50% of both transcriptomes were annotated after protein databases search. The two transcriptomes show similar profiles in terms of Gene Ontology categories composition. We identified several candidate genes which are likely to play a central role in the production and evolution of the electric signal. For most of these genes, and for many other housekeeping genes, we were able to obtain the complete or partial coding DNA sequences (CDS), which can be used for the development of primers to be utilized in qRT-PCR experiments. We present also the complete mitochondrial genome and compare it to those available from other weakly electric fish species. Additionally, we located 1671 SSR-containing regions with their flanking sites and designed the relative primers. This study establishes a first step in the development of genomic tools aimed at understanding the role of electric communication during speciation.

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Differential expression of genes and proteins between electric organ and skeletal muscle in the mormyrid electric fishBrienomyrus brachyistius

Cited by 27 publications

References 56 publications

Comparative histology of the adult electric organ among four species of the genus Campylomormyrus (Teleostei: Mormyridae)

Comparative histology of the adult electric organ among four species of the genus Campylomormyrus (Teleostei: Mormyridae)

Electrocyte physiology: 50 years later

De novo assembly and characterization of the skeletal muscle and electric organ transcriptomes of the African weakly electric fish Campylomormyrus compressirostris (Mormyridae, Teleostei)

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