title: Amino acid composition in eyes from zebrafish (Danio rerio) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) at the larval stage.
abstract: A comparative study was performed to identify differences in the amino acid composition of the eyes from zebrafish (Danio rerio) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) larvae and their link to the environmental adaption of the species. Amino acids in the acidic hydrolysates of eyes from 11 zebrafish and 12 sardine were determined with the use of high-performance liquid chromatography involving precolumn derivatization with ortho-phthalaldehyde. Differences in the content of most amino acids were detected between zebrafish and sardine. These amino acids were aspartate, glutamate, serine, glycine, threonine, arginine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine and lysine. Of particular note, the percentage of methionine in zebrafish eyes was much higher than that in sardine, whereas the opposite was observed for glutamate and glycine. These results indicate that zebrafish and sardine likely have experienced differences in adaptation to environmental changes. We suggest that the amino acid composition of eyes represents a powerful tool to discriminate between species characterized by different lifestyle and inhabiting different environments.
authors.affiliation: Detached Units of Capo Granitola (TP) and Naples, Institute for Coastal and Marine Environment (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy ; Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Falco
authors.affiliation: Detached Units of Capo Granitola (TP) and Naples, Institute for Coastal and Marine Environment (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.affiliation: Marine Immunobiology Laboratory, Department of Biological, Chemical, Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cammarata
authors.affiliation: Detached Units of Capo Granitola (TP) and Naples, Institute for Coastal and Marine Environment (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuttitta
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA.
authors.forename: Sichao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Detached Units of Capo Granitola (TP) and Naples, Institute for Coastal and Marine Environment (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonanno
authors.affiliation: Detached Units of Capo Granitola (TP) and Naples, Institute for Coastal and Marine Environment (IAMC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA.
authors.forename: Guoyao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: Amino acid composition; Danio rerio; Eye; Larval fish; Sardina pilchardus