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Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 279: R375-R388, 2000;
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Vol. 279, Issue 2, R375-R388, August 2000

Thermal compensation of peripheral oxygen transport in skeletal muscle of seasonally acclimatized trout

S. Egginton, S. Cordiner, and C. Skilbeck

Department of Physiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom


    ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Seasonal changes in ultrastructure of locomotory muscle were quantified after acclimatization to natural temperature and photoperiod. Only modest changes were seen in the volume density (Vv) of mitochondria in slow fibers ranging from 0.21 ± 0.01 (summer) to 0.24 ± 0.01 (winter), despite an increase in fiber size from 945 ± 19 to 1,594 ± 46 µm2, respectively, resulting in a significantly greater total mitochondrial volume at low temperatures. In contrast, intracellular lipid stores showed a marked change with season, from a maximum Vv of lipid droplets of 0.16 ± 0.01 in winter, progressively declining through spring and summer to a minimum of 0.07 ± 0.01 in autumn. For both organelles, the surface density reflected changes in Vv, indicating little modification of structure. Seasonal effects may dominate those of environmental temperature on mitochondrial separation, which in winter and spring fish at 4oC averaged 0.64 ± 0.06 and 1.20 ± 0.07 µm, respectively. The extracellular transport of oxygen also varies with season, the peak capillary density in autumn (2,851 ± 88 mm-2) resulting in a minimum tissue supply (domain) area of 529 ± 9µm2 per capillary. As a consequence, the predicted intracellular PO2 (~2.5 kPa) is similar throughout the year.

capillary supply; intracellular lipid; mitochondrial separation; Oncorhynchus mykiss; oxygen tension


    INTRODUCTION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

TEMPERATURE IS ONE OF THE MOST important physical factors determining biological activity, especially in ectotherms, in which physiological rate functions vary directly with changes in the thermal environment. Fishes are an extremely diverse group that have successfully exploited thermal niches from <0oC to >40oC. Although individual species have to cope with a more restricted annual temperature range, typically 10-20oC, this still poses a significant challenge for maintenance of cellular function. In particular, the rate of diffusion of substrates through tissue fluids and activity of metabolic enzymes will be depressed at low temperatures. Unless compensatory mechanisms are invoked, this would result in a slowing of locomotory performance, growth and development, reproduction, and other activities that determine ecological fitness. Laboratory studies of temperature acclimation have revealed physiological adaptations from the molecular to organismal levels of organization, with an increased aerobic capacity in the cold often compensating for the depressive effect of low environmental temperature on the metabolic rate, particularly in eurythermal species (23, 34). The most striking responses in skeletal muscle of active teleosts are increased peripheral oxygen supply as a consequence of an expanded capillary bed (22), enhanced substrate uptake resulting from an increased volume density (Vv) of mitochondria [Vv(mit,f)] (15), and greater potential ATP synthesis due to higher activity of enzymes from oxidative pathways (especially beta -oxidation of lipids) (18). In addition, temperate zone fishes often increase their red muscle mass, which contributes to an expansion in sustainable swimming speed in cold waters (35). At the upper end of a species' thermal range, the scope for activity may also be compromised due to high maintenance costs, although much less work has been carried out on possible compensatory mechanisms under these conditions. It is therefore usually assumed that either diffusive or catalytic limitations must be overcome to maintain locomotory capacity (isokinesis) in cold environments (see Ref. 38).

There are, however, a few studies that suggest our understanding of this adaptive strategy is incomplete. For example, Dean (5) commented that slow fibers in cold-acclimated rainbow trout appeared to have a similar mitochondrial content to those from warm-acclimated trout, and mitochondrial enzymes showed no positive compensation in cold-acclimated lake whitefish (1). This may, in part, be due to the fact that, although tank-acclimation experiments help to define possible mechanisms used to ameliorate direct thermal effects, they are unable to replicate the integrative response found under natural conditions. For example, seasonal acclimatization must also involve responses to environmental factors other than temperature, such as feeding, locomotory patterns of activity, and changes in hormonal status due to altered photoperiod. Consequently, when pond-dwelling chain pickerel were compared with fish caught from the same location and acclimated in the laboratory to similar temperatures, the latter consistently had higher enzyme activities (28). In addition, whereas laboratory cold acclimation of Crucian carp led to a striking proliferation of slow muscle mitochondria (22), this was attenuated by seasonal cold acclimatization (17). Laboratory acclimation studies also tend to compare fish held at only two temperatures, usually around the upper and lower critical temperatures, whereas the response to environmental temperature is clearly nonlinear (see below).

We have therefore examined the response of rainbow trout to changes in environmental temperature by sampling one cohort of fish, held in outdoor raceways and subjected to natural photoperiod, at the seasonally appropriate temperatures during spring (Sp), summer (Su), autumn (Au), and winter (Wi; a range of 4-18oC). Adaptations in the cardiovascular system and peripheral blood flow, as well as swimming performance, were not linearly related to seasonal temperature. Rather, the highest capacity for sustainable (aerobic) exercise in acclimatized trout was found at the intermediate (11oC) habitat temperature (37). Interestingly, whereas the capillary density (CD; and hence blood flow capacity) varied directly with temperature in the myocardium, the capillary-to-fiber ratio (C/F) in aerobic skeletal muscle showed the inverse response. However, capillary length density was also maximal at 11oC as a result of significant fiber hypertrophy at the lower temperature (12). Finally, enzyme activities confirmed an increased oxidative capacity in the cold, although there was only limited expansion of lipid metabolism (3), perhaps in response to an active lowering of intracellular pH at low temperatures to below that predicted by other ectotherm studies, which may lead to metabolic depression (39).

To examine the structural limits placed on aerobic performance of skeletal muscle, we therefore quantified the effects of seasonal acclimatization on fine structure and its implication for peripheral oxygen transport. We hypothesized that there would be a progressive change in subcellular structure with season but that the integrative basis of thermal acclimatization would necessitate more modest changes than those described after laboratory temperature acclimation. Our conclusions were tested by means of a mathematical model of intracellular oxygen tension. Initial findings were presented in abstract form (11).


    MATERIAL AND METHODS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

Experimental animals. Rainbow trout [Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)] were obtained from Leadmill trout farm (Hathersage, Derbyshire, UK), where they were held in flow-through, open culture ponds exposed to natural photoperiod. Members of one cohort were serially sampled throughout the year, when ambient water temperatures (±0.5oC) were 4oC in Sp (April), 18oC in Su (August), 11oC in Au (October), and 4oC in Wi (January). Fish were fed on commercial trout pellets at a seasonally adjusted ration to maintain optimal growth rate and quality required for stocking purposes (3). Sequential sampling of fish at random through the seasonal growth period could introduce a scale-dependent bias in the analysis of any temperature effects, due to the interaction with allometric changes in muscle structure (9). On the assumption that, for mature fish, intergroup differences will be due mainly to size, rather than age, we chose individuals of similar body mass and condition factor to minimize the influence of extraneous variables on the acclimatization response (Table 1).

                              
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Table 1.   Morphometrics of trout seasonally acclimatized to different environmental temperatures

Sample preparation. From those fish meeting the minimum size requirement, six were selected at random from each acclimatization group, separated into small holding ponds, and briefly sedated in 1:50,000 tricaine methane sulfonate (MS222; Sandoz) before stunning and spinal cord transection. Samples of superficial slow ("red") muscle were dissected free from skin, subdermal lipid, and underlying fast muscle along the horizontal septum and directly below the dorsal fin. Deep fast ("white") muscle was taken from a similar hypaxial position close to the vertebral column. Muscle was pinned at resting length to strengthened cork strips and fixed for 2-3 h at ~10oC in a buffered glutaraldehyde/paraformaldehyde solution containing 0.05% sodium azide (10). Samples were then trimmed into pieces with a cut face of ~1 mm2, stored overnight in fresh fixative at 4oC then postfixed in buffered OsO4 for 1 h, dehydrated in ascending grades of alcohols, and vacuum embedded in epoxy resin (Epon). Six blocks per fish were prepared for both muscle types, and one was chosen at random for subsequent analysis.

Light microscopy. Semithin (0.5 µm) sections were stained with toluidine blue to orient the blocks for true transverse or longitudinal sections of muscle fibers and to quantify the capillary supply at a magnification of ×500 using an unbiased sampling rule (8). Digitized images of stained sections were used to determine the x,y coordinates for muscle fiber boundaries and the associated capillary coordinates; in-house software was used to calculate mean fiber area [<A><AC>A</AC><AC>&cjs1171;</AC></A>(f)], C/F, and CD (vessels per unit area of muscle fibers). As most capillary beds form a complex network with numerous interconnections, so that both the effective capillary length and surface area are greater than those estimated from simple counts in tissue sections, we also calculated the capillary length density [Jv(c,f)]. This parameter evaluates the length of capillaries per unit volume of tissue derived from the CD and an index of tortuosity (8), in this case assumed to have a value of 1.05 (12), and can be multiplied by tissue volume to determine the absolute volume of the capillary bed per fish (in km/cm3). In addition, the radius of Krogh's tissue cylinder for oxygen delivery was calculated as 1/radical [pi · Jv(c,f)].

The area of tissue supplied by individual capillaries (the domain of influence) was calculated as a tessellation of nonoverlapping polygons, representing the area of tissue closer to one capillary than any other. Under conditions of maximal flow, assuming supply capacity to be similar for all capillaries, the domain size will be inversely proportional to the metabolic demand. Thus mean domain area will vary inversely with capillary supply and may be thought of as a space-filling alternative to the Krogh tissue cylinder method of quantifying oxygen supply capacity of the microcirculation (13). The distribution of capillary domain area also provides an index of the heterogeneity of capillary supply; as the distribution is log-normal, this is best expressed as the standard deviation of log-transformed area (LogSD) and a mean intercapillary distance {ICD = [2radical (domain area/pi )]}. These quantities are based on the spatial relationship between all neighboring capillaries and probably better represent the heterogeneity of intramuscular oxygen supply than indexes based on global estimates of capillarization. Simple counts of capillaries may give an erroneous picture of the potential oxygen transport to tissue due to heterogeneities in both local supply and demand, so methods have been developed to analyze the local capillary supply to individual fibers. The number of capillaries around each fiber may be corrected for the size of adjacent fibers [capillary-per-fiber density (CFD)]. However, differences in size among muscle fibers is best accommodated by calculating the overlap of capillary domains and fiber profiles giving an index of local capillary supply [local C/F (LCFR)] in terms of "capillary equivalents" of supply (13). This may then be normalized for differences in individual fiber size to provide a scale-independent index, the local CD [LCD (LCFR/fiber area)].

Electron microscopy. Ultrathin (~80 nm) sections were double stained with methanoic uranyl acetate (30%) and aqueous lead tartrate (2%), and electronmicrographs taken at an accelerating voltage of 60 kV, requiring minimum goniometer stage tilt to maximize image clarity. Micrographs were analyzed at a final magnification of ×8,750-15,750 using a transparent overlay of a stereological counting grid. A lattice spacing (d) of 1.3 cm (equivalent to 0.8-1.51 µm) was used for quantification of subcellular structure using standard point-count and line-intercept techniques for area and boundary length estimates, respectively (15). Stereology is the application of geometric probability theory that permits extrapolation of structural information from n to n + 1 dimensions (e.g., length to surface, area to volume), provided random sampling criteria are applied. Therefore, Vv and surface density (Sv) in practice represent the area and boundary length of any structure as a proportion of a reference cross-sectional area. Surface-to-volume ratio (S/V) and profile cross-sectional area are calculated in a similar manner. For measurement of mitochondrial cristae surface densities (ratio of inner membrane surface area to mitochondrial volume), electronmicrographs were viewed at a final magnification of ×36,000. The large fiber size precluded use of the whole cross section as reference phase, so muscle was subsampled by the method of systematic area-weighted quadrats, whereby different regions are sampled in proportion to their volume fraction, giving an unbiased estimate of population means.

Capillary Vv and Sv can be calculated from the product of Jv(c,f) and capillary cross-sectional area and perimeter, respectively. The oxygen demand to be met by the capillary supply may then be equated with the volume of mitochondria supplied by each capillary, given as (mitochondrial Vv × domain area).

To estimate the radial distribution of mitochondria and intracellular lipid depots from capillaries, the respective volume densities were calculated by point counts in sampling zones delineated by concentric annuli of equal area, centered over individual capillaries, and extending beyond the one-half mean ICD (15). Intracellular diffusion distances within muscle fibers were estimated using linear analysis techniques, measuring the distance between mitochondrial clusters along both axes (to remove directionality) of a randomly oriented test lattice. The average distance that a small molecule would diffuse through the sarcoplasm before reaching a mitochondrial interface should then be one-half this distance. Mean free sarcoplasmic spacing was also calculated as lambda a = [4 (1-Vv)/Sv] (14).

Mathematical modeling. The combined effect that changes in fine structure have on intracellular oxygen tension of slow muscle fibers was explored by means of a mathematical model of diffusion (20). Briefly, the potential oxygen delivery (determined by the capillary supply) is balanced by oxygen consumption (scaled according to mitochondrial volume), allowing for the diffusion distances involved (which vary with fiber size), and oxygen permeability (given by the ratio of intracellular lipid to aqueous sarcoplasm), corrected for the kinetic effects of temperature (Q10) and partitioned among the distinct structural regions found in fish muscle fibers (subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar zones). For clarity, the results are presented as wire-frame three-dimensional plots.

Statistical analysis. Single-factor ANOVA was used for comparison of values, with Fisher's protected least-significant differences to estimate significance between groups. Sufficiency of sample size for stereological parameters was tested by determining the stability of population means on replicate analysis (8). Distribution analysis of domain area and mitochondrial spacing used the Kolmogorov-Smirnow procedure and comparisons were made by the Mann-Whitney U test.

Chemicals. All chemicals were of reagent grade or better quality (BDH, Poole, Dorset). Glutaraldehyde and Araldite resin were of electron microscope grade (Agar Scientific, Stanstead, Essex).


    RESULTS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

The microvasculature is highly responsive to seasonal temperature changes. Capillary domain analysis showed that supply area varied inversely with CD, being closely related to fiber size (Table 2). Because this procedure required analysis of material at a higher magnification than used previously to describe the cold-induced angiogenesis, the values for C/F, CD, and fiber size [<A><AC>A</AC><AC>&cjs1171;</AC></A>(f)] are slightly different from published values for this species (12), although the trend is the same. The initial increase in capillary supply on autumnal cooling was not accompanied by any significant increase in fiber size, and hence the supply area (capillary domain) was significantly reduced (Fig. 1). Further angiogenesis in Wi fish is paralleled by fiber hypertrophy such that the mean domain area returns toward that of Su-acclimatized fish. The heterogeneity of capillary distribution (LogSD) is similar, with only a modest increase in the transition between Su and Wi (Table 2), whereas the influence of initial capillary growth is evident as a broadening of the central distribution in Au (Fig. 1). The consequence of such changes is that capillary separation varies according to season rather than temperature: mean ICD is maximal at the lowest temperature (Wi and Sp) and minimal in Au, with an intermediate value at the highest temperature (Su). Intercapillary diffusion distance (estimated as Krogh's radius) shows a similar trend (Table 2). The number of adjacent capillaries corrected for differences in fiber size (CFD) peaked in Au, as expected from the C/F and CD data. However, the LCFR shows that in Wi slow fibers received nearly two capillary equivalents of supply, compared with 1.4 in Su, although when normalized for fiber size (LCD), the maximal local supply again appears to be in Au. That both the global and local indexes of capillary supply show the same trend is indicative of an unusually homogeneous muscle composition and tightly regulated angiogenesis.

                              
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Table 2.   Capillary domain analysis in rainbow trout slow muscle



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Fig. 1.   Effect of seasonal acclimatization on capillary supply of slow muscle in rainbow trout, expressed as the distribution of capillary domain area. A: spring (Sp); B: summer (Sp); C: autumn (Au); D: winter (Wi). Angiogenesis stimulated by the initial cooling from Su led to a reduced supply area in Au that returned to Su values (dashed line) by Wi as a result of substantial fiber hypertrophy. Little further change was observed on prolonged cold exposure into Sp; thereafter, the supply area fell in line with a reduction in mean fiber size.

Muscle fine structure displays limited seasonal remodelling. Little change in gross morphology of the oxidative swimming muscle was evident, with slow fibers retaining a prominent population of mitochondria and lipid droplets throughout the year (Fig. 2). Extracellular lipid depots were also evident, comprising ~15% of the interstitium at all temperatures. Quantitative analysis shows a small transitional increase in Vv(mit,f) on autumnal cooling in slow muscle fibers (Fig. 3). The accompanying changes in mitochondrial surface area exposed to the sarcoplasm, expressed either as an average per fiber volume (Sv) or per organelle cluster (S/V), were also modest (Table 3). In addition, estimates of cristae Sv (µm2 inner membrane surface/µm3 mitochondrial volume) were minimally affected by thermal acclimatization, being 15.8 ± 1.09, 15.5 ± 0.8, and 17.4 ± 1.00/µm for and Sp, Su, and Au fish, respectively (not significant). However, preservation of these structures is less than perfect in published micrographs from fish muscle, even when optimal fixation techniques were employed. This is presumably a consequence of slow fixative diffusion at low temperatures exacerbated by the long diffusion pathlengths in large fibers. We therefore advise caution when comparing absolute values of cristae Sv among studies.


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Fig. 2.   Electron micrographs of slow muscle fibers from trout acclimatized to Sp (A), Su (B), Au (C), and Wi (D). Note the similarity in composition, especially in the relative area of fibers occupied by mitochondria. Scale bar = 1.5 µm.



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Fig. 3.   Volume (Vv) and surface density (Sv; µm-1) of mitochondria (mit,f) and lipid (lip,f) in slow (A) and fast muscle (B) fibers from seasonally acclimatized trout. Contrast the relative constancy of the mitochondrial population with the variability in intracellular lipid depots in slow muscle. In fast muscle, the sparse distribution of both organelles results in high data variance but is suggestive of a progressive annual decline in mitochondrial content and changes in lipid that are opposite those seen in slow muscle. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01 vs. Au.


                              
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Table 3.   The effect of seasonal acclimatization on fine structure of trout skeletal muscle

Importantly, the unchanged mitochondrial Vv does not imply a static population of the ATP-generating machinery, because this represents a constant volume fraction of fibers whose size is doubled on the transition from Au to Wi. Rather, these data indicate that mitochondrial proliferation was matched to the rate of fiber hypertrophy or atrophy, producing organelles of similar structural composition throughout the year. However, as angiogenesis was significantly influenced by fiber size, the relationship between oxygen supply and consumption was distinctly seasonal, with the structural balance shifting from a proportionately greater CD in Au to a relatively higher Vv(mit,f) in Wi (Fig. 4).


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Fig. 4.   The relationship between oxygen supply {capillary length density [Jv(c,f)]} and oxygen consumption [Vv(mit,f)] in trout slow fibers, showing the seasonal variation that deviates significantly from the interspecific regression obtained from published data (error bars fall within the symbols). Note that during Wi, trout appear to be "undersupplied" with capillaries, whereas they have "excess" capillaries in Su and Au.

Intracellular lipid content of slow fibers showed a complementary decrease in Vv between Su and Au (Fig. 3), with the mobilization of intracellular lipid stores at 11oC leading to a significant decrease in surface density as the lipid droplets become smaller (Fig. 2) and producing a greater S/V (Table 3). The Vv of myofibrils [Vv(myf,f)] varies in a complementary manner to those of mitochondria and lipid. Consequently, the total myofibrillar volume-per-unit length (µm) of slow fiber, given as [V(myf,f) = Vv(myf,f) × <A><AC>A</AC><AC>&cjs1171;</AC></A>(f)], changes throughout the year, being 826, 570, 544, and 869 µm3 for Sp, Su, Au, and Wi fish, respectively. This is paralleled by changes in V(mit,f) such that the ratio of ATP production and consumption is broadly matched, with V(myf,f) being 2.3- to 2.8-fold greater than V(mit,f) throughout the year. There was no indication of pathological changes in structure, e.g., the volume fraction of nucleus per fiber [Vv(nuc,f)] was maintained among the groups. Interestingly, the fibers in Sp fish had a significantly lower cytoplasmic Vv such that the intracellular compartments were relatively condensed.

Fast muscle fibers had ~5-fold fewer mitochondria and 20-fold less lipid than slow fibers throughout the year and were generally refractory to changes in environmental temperature. The exception was mitochondrial Sv, which was significantly higher in Sp than in any other season, indicating a greater surface for metabolite exchange that parallels an increased Vv. However, the 60% increase in both Vv and Sv was matched by only a 30% increase in the S/V, indicating that mitochondrial biogenesis results in clusters of organelles with a reduced specific surface area for exchange. There were no other significant changes in gross fiber composition (Fig. 3). In neither slow nor fast muscle fibers was there any evidence for a differential response in fiber composition between the subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar regions (Table 3), implying a direct effect of temperature on structure with potentially similar consequences for transmembrane and transcellular transport of metabolites.

Intracellular reorganization complements changes in organelle volume. A tight regulation of mitochondrial content is suggested by the close parallel in radial distribution of mitochondria among acclimatization groups, with an average of ~20% mitochondria across the diffusion pathway from capillary to the center of muscle fibers and a regression slope that was not significantly different from zero. This gave rise to very similar slopes for the cumulative mitochondrial volume (Fig. 5A), indicating a similar extraction capacity for oxygen. The Vv of lipid was quite variable, ranging from zero to 35% for individual animals, although the consistently higher lipid Vv at 4oC resulted in a significantly greater slope for the cumulative radial distribution in the order Wi > Su > Au (Fig. 5B). However, the modest effect of season on slow fiber composition masks a significant reorganization of mitochondrial distribution. The increased proportion of shorter distances, indicative of either biogenesis and/or clustering (Figs. 2 and 6), is accompanied by the progressively narrower mitochondrial separation (Li) from Sp through to Wi (Table 4). This conclusion holds irrespective of the measure of central tendency adopted, as the form of distribution is broadly similar (Fig. 6), resulting in no significant differences in estimates of skewness or kurtosis (Table 4). When the mitochondrial surface bounding the free sarcoplasm is taken into account, in calculating lambda a, the trend is similar, but the differences among groups appear less dramatic (Table 4).


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Fig. 5.   The cumulative volume of mitochondria (mito; A) and intracellular lipid (B) along the radial oxygen diffusion path from capillaries, analyzed by means of an annular counting frame. open circle , Wi; triangle , Su; , Au. Note the similar gradient for mitochondria at different temperatures, Vv(mit,f) = -154.9 + 20.98 × distance from capillary center (r2 = 0.85). The gradient for lipid in the cold-acclimatized fish, Vv(lip,f) = -207.3 + 28.40 × distance (r2 = 0.95), was significantly steeper than that for both Su (-114.8 + 13.87 × distance; r2 = 0.90) and Au (-15.6 + 5.30 × distance; r2 = 0.11) fish.


                              
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Table 4.   Li in slow muscle fibers of seasonally acclimatized rainbow trout



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Fig. 6.   Frequency distribution of mitochondrial separation in slow fibers from acclimatized trout. A: Sp; B: Su; C: Au; D: Wi. The progressive appearance of a cohort of short distances, from Su through Au to Wi, is consistent with the biogenesis of new organelles. Intracellular reorganization returns the distribution close to a unimodal distribution by Sp. However, mean separation varies little with season.

Intracellular oxygen tension is similar at all temperatures. The volume of mitochondria supplied by each capillary scaled directly with capillary spacing (i.e., with domain area) and was, on average, similar for all acclimatization groups. Intracellular lipid volume followed a similar scaling relationship but was significantly higher over the whole range of domain area at the lowest temperature (Fig. 7). The integrative effect of these changes in fiber structure and muscle capillary supply was examined by means of a mathematical model of intracellular diffusion, with the parameters used listed in Table 5. Despite major differences in lipid content (30%), CD (50%), and fiber size (50%) during the year, the resultant mean PO2 varies less than 10% among acclimatization groups, with minimum PO2 at the fiber center varying only slightly more (Table 5). Thus complementary changes in the structural determinants of peripheral oxygen transport are predicted to result in a seasonally invariant profile of intracellular oxygen tension (Fig. 8).


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Fig. 7.   Relative and total volume of mitochondria (A, B) and lipid (C, D) per capillary domain in trout slow muscle. open circle , Wi; triangle , Su; , Au. To maintain exchange capacity as the area supplied by each capillary increases, the mitochondrial demand for substrates (Vv) would have to decrease, such that the total demand would remain constant, i.e., Vv(mit,f) = Vv × domain area. Su fish come closest to showing this relationship, whereas Au and Wi fish instead maintain a constant Vv, indicating active mitochondrial biogenesis at a rate that keeps pace with fiber hypertrophy. The potential demand, therefore, increases with supply area. The actual substrate flux will be modulated by the effects of temperature on diffusion, with the gradient of Vv(mit,f) varying in the order required to oppose diffusive limitations. Intracellular Vv(lip,f) does not vary with domain area [a(Dom)] in Wi, although the gradient of Vv(lip,f) is no different from that seen in Su or Au.


                              
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Table 5.   Input parameters for the modeling of intracellular oxygen tension



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Fig. 8.   Calculated PO2 in slow muscle fibers of seasonally acclimatized trout. A: Sp; B: Su; C: Au; D: Wi. The integrated response of changes in different structural compartments is predicted to maintain a similar level of intracellular oxygenation throughout the year.


    DISCUSSION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

The extensive literature on vertebrate thermal biology suggests that adjustments in fiber size and mitochondrial densities are widespread responses to alterations in environmental temperature (9). In fishes, the most extensive structural and biochemical changes reported are found in some cyprinids, e.g., Crucian carp show an impressive proliferation of mitochondria on cold acclimation that appears to be paralleled by an extensive growth of capillaries (22), suggesting an impedance match between vascular oxygen supply and tissue oxygen demand. In addition, there is an expansion of the slow muscle mass and changes in both metabolic and contractile enzyme activities (34). However, changes in structure do not necessarily have adaptive significance, and these cyprinids may be unusual, possibly reflecting their relatively sluggish activity pattern and hypoxia tolerance, whereas other more active eurythermal species have an attenuated response to laboratory temperature acclimation (34). The adaptive significance of any change in physiology or morphology, therefore, has to be interpreted with caution. In the striped bass, an active species migrating up the Eastern seaboard of the United States at different times of the year, there was no change in myofibrillar ATPase (34), whereas angiogenesis served only to maintain, rather than increase, CD in the face of cold-induced fiber hypertrophy (15). We wished to establish whether strategies other than those revealed by two-point comparisons imposed on captive fish might be used to preserve muscle function during periods of fluctuating body temperature and, therefore, examined the structural response of skeletal muscle in trout undergoing seminatural seasonal acclimatization. In the following, it is important to be clear that morphometry can only characterize the potential capacity of a system, e.g., at MO2max, and can say little about metabolic control of tissue at rest.

Fiber size determines the effective capillary supply. Sustained swimming activity in teleost fishes is powered exclusively by the band of slow muscle running superficially along the trunk (34). To maintain the locomotory performance observed in cold water (35), it is vital to overcome the impaired contractile function imposed by low temperatures. An increase in number, but not size, of fibers was observed in cold-acclimated goldfish (26), whereas the 70% increase in slow muscle mass of striped bass on cold acclimation (27) could not be explained by the modest increase in mean fiber size observed in these fish (15). These and other data suggest that fiber hyperplasia underlies the increase in slow muscle mass on cold acclimation. In contrast, the nearly twofold increase in fiber size of trout sampled during the Au and Wi is more than adequate to explain the increase in slow muscle mass from 4.3 to 5.2% body mass, respectively (37), whereas the fiber S/V shows a complimentary seasonal pattern to that of fiber area, suggesting that the prime response of trout is one of fiber hypertrophy at low temperatures. This has important implications for the efficiency of substrate exchange by the capillary bed, as intracellular distances over which substrate diffusion must occur increase at a time when the rates of diffusion are reduced, thus potentially limiting the locomotory capacity in cold waters. In striped bass slow muscle, C/F increased by 40% between 25oC- and 5oC-acclimated groups, although the larger mean fiber size of cold-acclimated animals resulted in similar values for CD and calculated dimensions of oxygenated tissue cylinders around capillaries (15). Seasonal acclimatization of trout induced a progressive expansion of the capillary bed from Su to Wi such that C/F varied inversely with environmental temperature, but, whereas fiber hypertrophy only occurred in the coldest group, CD was maximal at the intermediate temperature of 11oC (12). We have included an additional group of fish in the current study and extended the analysis to explore further the relationship between these parameters over an annual temperature cycle.

The striking cold-induced angiogenesis is attenuated on prolonged exposure to low temperatures (Wi-Sp), implicating a transient hormonal stimulus for capillary growth elicited by seasonal changes in environmental temperature and/or photoperiod (9). By Sp, C/F closely resembled that of Su animals, although because this is accompanied by a reduction in fiber area, the CD did not decrease to the same extent, and, hence, the anatomical supply capacity of the capillary bed was defended. Although the cylinder of tissue that may be calculated from these data to be oxygenated by capillaries decreases a little, the more realistic geometric analysis of supply by calculation of domain area shows a near equivalent mean ICD. Importantly, the large seasonal excursions in C/F and <A><AC>A</AC><AC>&cjs1171;</AC></A>(f) do not substantially increase the heterogeneity of capillary spacing (LogSD), implying that angiogenesis is a tightly controlled local phenomenon that serves to maintain optimal extracellular delivery of substrates to the working muscle. However, simple counts of capillaries, whether describing the global supply (C/F) or the number of adjacent capillaries corrected for fiber area (CFD), cannot adequately describe the combined influences of angiogenesis and hypertrophy (13). An assessment of the local capillary supply conditions is therefore required. These data indicate that on average, the potential substrate delivery for each muscle fiber (LCFR) undergoes a regular annual cycle that tracks the seasonal growth pattern, whereas the normalized supply (LCD) shows an impairment at both seasonal extremes of temperature. This pattern of response is consistent with earlier data on the scope for endurance swimming and muscle blood flow, which revealed an integrated response to optimize aerobic performance in the middle of the species' thermal range (37).

Mitochondrial proliferation maintains, but does not increase, organelle density. Most ectotherms experience an acute reduction in oxygen consumption on cold exposure followed by varying degrees of metabolic compensation on prolonged acclimation. The ability to increase oxygen utilization requires both catalytic and diffusive limits to be overcome by adjustments in enzyme kinetics (36) and/or intracellular structure (32), respectively. For all eurythermal fish species so far examined, there is an inverse relationship between the temperature of acclimation and the volume fraction of mitochondria in slow fibers (9, 24). Mitochondrial proliferation may help to preserve the rate of total cellular ATP production by 1) increasing the intracellular concentration of respiratory chain enzymes, which would offset reduced turnover in the cold (23), and 2) reducing the mean diffusion path length and increasing the exchange surface for substrates within the cytoplasm (15, 40). In contrast to this general pattern of response among laboratory-acclimated fishes, seasonally acclimatized trout show a striking similarity in Vv(mit,f), with the maximal change of a little over 10% occurring during the transition between Su and Au. This does not result from a static population of organelles, but rather from active proliferation that parallels the extent of muscle hypertrophy and atrophy such that the total mitochondrial volume-per-unit fiber length [V(mit,f)] is similar between Su and Au fish, increases 1.8-fold by Wi, and subsequently falls by 20% in Sp. Interestingly, the maximal Vv(mit,f) in trout (Wi, 376 µm3) is similar to that of striped bass (5oC, 335 µm3), which may imply an upper limit to the volume of metabolic machinery that can be accommodated in a given cell. The Vv(mit,f) is a compromise between conflicting functional demands. In fish slow muscle, this may approach the spatial limit possible in cells that also perform mechanical work and are exceeded only in modified, noncontractile tissue such as the heater organ of billfish (2, 41). A recent paper by Johnston et al. (24) presents a compilation of mitochondrial Vvs in related species that are higher than those of either bass or trout. Whether this represents differences in thermal niche (stenothermal vs. eurythermal), phylogeny (perciformes vs. salmonidae), or locomotion (labriform vs. subcarangiform) is not clear. This constancy of organelle density results in the same volume of mitochondria being found at any given distance from a capillary in muscle from animals over a 14oC range of environmental temperature. A qualitatively similar radial distribution is usually only found in muscle of isothermal animals, such as mammals (21), and in icefish that live in the extremely cold but very stable waters of Antarctica (16). This pattern of adaptation has important implications for the role of mitochondria in overcoming the metabolic limits of cold exposure, implying only modest compensation in substrate availability within the cytoplasm or product delivery to the myofibrillar network.

This picture of overall mitochondrial distribution is, however, incomplete as mitochondrial proliferation in trout results in ribbons of organelles quite different from the clustered arrays found after cold acclimation in goldfish (40) and striped bass (15). As a result, the mean intermitochondrial diffusion distance (Li) is progressively reduced from Su through Wi, thereby aiding the exchange process before increasing again in Sp, at which Vv(mit,f) approaches the seasonal minimum. The influence of mitochondrial biogenesis on this process is evident from the distribution of Li that shows a second peak in Wi fish, corresponding to shorter diffusion distances caused by proliferation of mitochondria by binary fission, with Au and Sp fish representing a transition between this bimodal distribution and the more usual log-normal distribution of Su animals. It is difficult to incorporate mitochondrial ribbons into the PO2 model, and, therefore, we probably underestimate the efficiency of transcellular oxygen flux, strengthening the argument that oxygen is not a limiting factor for these fibers at any temperature.

The size and shape of individual mitochondrial profiles, as well as their cristae densities, are essentially unaltered by thermal acclimation in either slow or fast muscle of striped bass (15) and trout (this study). Although our estimates of cristae Sv are less than the 36-40/µm of St. Pierre et al. (31), cristae packing in trout appears to be less than that of the highly aerobic red muscle of tuna (63-70/µm) and similar to other fishes (25-37/µm) and mammals (20-40/µm; see Ref. 29). Although there would appear to be scope for reducing the matrix space, the contribution of an increased (bass) or maintained (trout) population of organelles to metabolic compensation in the cold is primarily a volumetric response to temperature, i.e., a quantitative rather than qualitative difference among acclimated/acclimatized groups of animals. As cristae density will correlate with specific oxidative capacity if respiratory chain enzymes were maximally packed, the increased oxidative capacity of trout red muscle estimated from activities of mitochondrial enzymes in crude tissue homogenates (3) may be expected to parallel differences in mitochondrial densities. That they don't suggests either a change in specific mitochondria activity, which in the absence of a significant change in cristae surface density would imply an altered respiratory chain density, or changes in the fatty acid (FA) composition of phospholipids within the mitochondrial membranes, which are known to have a significant impact on enzyme activities. Indeed, the latter response may be very important, as activity of membrane-bound enzymes, such as carnitine palmitoleoyltransferase (CPT), show a more complete compensation than do those of soluble enzymes (32). In addition, one cannot exclude the possibility of changes in enzyme isoforms with thermal acclimatization that may also alter metabolic capacity in the absence of noticeable ultrastructural changes. Nevertheless, the present data are consistent with the finding of no significant effect of thermal adaptation in maximal rates of oxygen consumption for isolated mitochondria among species living at different temperatures (25), although Guderley and Johnston (19) demonstrated an enhanced oxidative capacity after cold acclimation of sculpin. Further, St. Pierre et al. (31) suggested that acclimatization induces compensation in mitochondrial respiration after seasonal acclimatization of trout as a result of shifts in enzyme levels and cristae packing. Differences in holding conditions (range of temperature and photoperiod) may underlie the apparent contrast with the present study in the thermal plasticity of mitochondrial structure or respiratory capacity. Whereas we showed little change in cristae Sv, the minor differences reported by St. Pierre et al. (31) appear to be inadequate to significantly affect the calculated PO2 distribution (Fig. 8). However, because enzyme activities change considerably more than ultrastructural indexes, one would not expect a simple one-to-one relationship between respiratory capacity and mitochondrial content (40), although they are broadly correlated over a wide range of capacity (41), and therefore modest differences in cristae Sv may translate into greater differences at the enzymatic level.

Complementary changes in other compartments may aid metabolic compensation. Unlike the response of striped bass, where a similar volume of myofibrils per slow fiber in both cold- and warm-acclimated fish was supplied by a greater volume of mitochondria, in trout, the specific myofibrillar volume changes with season. As a consequence, the ratio of potential ATP demand by the contractile machinery to ATP-generating capacity varies only between a factor of 2.3 (Wi) and 2.8 (Su). These values are similar to those from warm-acclimated striped bass, whereas in cold-acclimated fish, it is close to unity (calculated from data in Ref. 15). This appears to run counter to the adaptationist arguments requiring an increase in respiratory chain enzyme content to overcome catalytic limitations in the cold. An alternate strategy would be to ameliorate the reduction in diffusion coefficient of substrates at low temperatures by structural reorganization of intracellular compartments, particularly the mitochondria, to minimize the distance over which metabolites have to travel by diffusion (40). For aqueous substrates, the compensation is nearly perfect in goldfish (33) but less good in striped bass (15) and quite modest in trout (this study). However, other compartments may play a crucial role.

The mitochondrial content and CD of fish slow muscle approaches that of the mammalian myocardium in its aerobic potential. Highly oxidative tissues are known to maintain low intracellular concentrations of modulators that promote glycolysis and glycogenolysis and undergo smaller changes in levels of intracellular activators during shifts in work intensity (7), and this is thought to be associated with a shift in metabolic fuel preference from carbohydrate substrates toward FAs at low temperatures (4). Although the level of intracellular lipid may not be taken as direct evidence for a shift in fuel preference, as dietary acquisition probably outstrips catabolic activity, it is consistent with such enzymatic data. A significant decrease in intracellular lipid would, however, seem clearly to indicate mobilization and, presumably, catabolism of fat. In trout, this is also consistent with a significant amount of extracellular lipid deposition, which would appear to be balanced by rates of mobilization for most of the year (~1 ml lipid/100 g body mass in Wi, Sp, and Su), with an accumulation in Au (1.3 ml lipid/100 g body mass). Importantly, the intracellular balance between lipogenesis and lipolysis in the cold tends to favor the former, as cold acclimation is associated with a 13-fold greater volume of intracellular lipid droplets in slow fibers of striped bass acclimated to 5oC than to 25oC, reaching a volume fraction of 8% (15). The presence of significant amounts of intracellular lipid in striped bass slow fibers served to preserve adequate transcellular oxygen flux at low temperatures, thus obviating the need for a significant degree of angiogenesis (20). Although trout accumulate twice this amount when acclimatized to 4oC (Table 3), this starts from a much higher volume fraction at 18oC and corresponds to only a 4.6-fold increase in total intracellular lipid when changes in fiber size are allowed for, compared with a 17-fold difference in bass. However, it is this change in Vv of lipid droplets [Vv(lip,f)] that largely accounts for the decrease in Vv(myf,f) in Wi fish. The inverse relationship between Vv and S/V of intracellular lipid suggests that the cyclical change in depot volume is achieved by expansion and contraction of individual droplets rather than the cyclical production of new depots. The radial distribution of lipid in trout shows that all along the intramuscular oxygen transport pathway, there is a greater volume of lipid fuel available at 4oC than at higher temperatures, which, together with a reduced diffusion distance, will favor greater FA oxidation. The 2.4-fold increase in Vv(lip,f) is paralleled by a 1.5-fold increase in activity of CPT (2), an enzyme that is widely recognized as an indicator of the capacity for beta -oxidation of FAs and a potentially important contributor to regulation of carbon flux through this pathway (30). At the tissue level, FA oxidation may be determined by FA availability, determined by both lipase activity (which is increased on cold acclimation) and FA uptake (which is largely dependent on the concentration gradient between compartments). Whether or not this accumulation accurately reflects the shift toward lipid metabolism, such a quantity would serve to further ameliorate a decrease in transcellular oxygen flux at low temperatures (6, 20).

The above arguments only hold for red muscle, as the structural capacity for ATP production by mitochondria in white muscle is in excess of actual tissue demand, and although this tissue is heavily reliant on lipid oxidation, it has a lower CPT activity per volume mitochondria than red muscle (29). In addition, the relatively sparse capillary supply adds further weight to the argument that mitochondria in white muscle are not limited by oxygen delivery in the same way as are those in red muscle, due to the intermittent demand for ballistic force production fuelled by anaerobic glycolysis.

In conclusion, we have shown that subtle changes underlie the integrative response to cold acclimatization, requiring comparatively modest responses within any one system to achieve substantial differences in gross physiological activity. Seasonal acclimatization of rainbow trout produces relatively small changes in mitochondrial Vv, in contrast to the large increases reported for other species after tank acclimation to low temperatures. This apparent lack of metabolic compensation at low environmental temperatures is exacerbated by an increased fiber girth, thus increasing the intramuscular diffusion distances. The local capillary supply is sensitive to changes in fiber size, being greatest at 11oC, and is therefore likely to be limiting for aerobic muscle performance at the seasonal extremes in temperature. This is countered by structural reorganization, which leads to decreased intracellular diffusion distances and increased lipid content in the cold. The cumulative effect of these changes leads to a potentially high and unchanged mean fiber oxygen tension throughout the year, a response appropriate for an active species inhabiting fast-flowing waters.

Perspectives

Use of laboratory acclimation studies fail to address the possible synergistic effect of tank stress and altered temperature on physiological responses in addition to attenuating any integrated response to parallel changes in environmental quality with season. In addition, there is an implicit assumption in comparative biochemistry and physiology research that any observed differences must have adaptive significance. In attempting to encompass these issues, it is clear that only limited structural remodelling is required for thermal compensation of peripheral oxygen transport in fish muscle.


    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to H. Guderley and C. D. Moyes for a number of helpful comments.


    FOOTNOTES

This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: S. Egginton, Dept. of Physiology, Univ. of Birmingham, PO Box 363, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK (E-mail: s.egginton{at}bham.ac.uk).

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received 1 April 1999; accepted in final form 11 February 2000.


    REFERENCES
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
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Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 279(2):R375-R388
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