Influence of acclimation temperature on GDP-mannose: Dolicholphosphate mannosyltransferase of trout liver (Salmo Gairdneri)

Mannosyltransferase activity has been studied in trout liver microsomes prepared from fish adapted during 1 month at three different temperatures: 7, 15 and 21°C; the purpose of the study was to try and answer this question: is the enzyme sensitive to temperature variations and if so, do optimum pH variations reflect an adaptation to temperature changes? The following effects were observed: 1. Optimum pH values do not vary significantly with incubation temperature; only a discrete shift towards more acidic pH has been observed for trouts raised at 21°C. 2. For trouts raised at 7 and 15°C, the enzymic activity increases slightly with incubation temperature while it remains constant for the trouts acclimated at 21°C. This observation could be explained by a lower level of endogenous dolicholphosphate. 3. At any incubation temperature, the higher the acclimation temperature, the lower the enzymic activity.