Phosphorylation state of red and white muscle in tilapia during graded hypoxia: an in vivo31P-NMR study.

The aim of this study was to measure the energetic consequences of hypoxia in different types of skeletal muscle within a single tilapia species ( n = 5). To that aim, 81.0 MHz31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were collected, alternately, from three surface coils placed adjacent to the tissues of interest (dorsal white muscle, ventral white muscle, and lateral red muscle) during a graded hypoxia load over 6 h followed by a 5-h recovery period. The fish were contained in a flow cell, enabling us full control of the oxygen content of the bathing medium. The intracellular pH and the concentrations of ATP, phosphocreatine (PCr), and Pi were determined from the NMR spectra. For normoxia, biochemical differences for [γ-ATP], [PCr], and [sugar phosphates] (SP) were observed between all three locations, especially between the red and white muscle. During hypoxia stress, loss of phosphorylated compounds (PCr+Pi+SP) was observed at all locations but was the most severe in red muscle. When the aerobic (respirometry) and anaerobic (31P-NMR) ATP production via an energy balance are compared, flexible metabolic depression is demonstrated during anaerobioses. It is concluded that control of the aerobic and anaerobic component of metabolism during metabolic depression is independent of each other.