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Hypoxic cardiorespiratory reflexes in the facultative air-breathing fish jeju (Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus): role of branchial O2 chemoreceptors

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Abstract

In one series of experiments, heart frequency (f H), blood pressure (P a), gill ventilation frequency (f R ), ventilation amplitude (V AMP) and total gill ventilation (V TOT) were measured in intact jeju (Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus) and jeju with progressive denervation of the branchial branches of cranial nerves IX (glossopharyngeal) and X (vagus) without access to air. When these fish were submitted to graded hypoxia (water PO2 ~140, normoxia to 17 mmHg, severe hypoxia), they increased f R , V AMP, V TOT and P a and decreased f H. In a second series of experiments, air-breathing frequency (f RA), measured in fish with access to the surface, increased with graded hypoxia. In both series, bilateral denervation of all gill arches eliminated the responses to graded hypoxia. Based on the effects of internal (caudal vein, 150 μg NaCN in 0.2 mL saline) and external (buccal) injections of NaCN (500 μg NaCN in 1.0 mL water) on f R , V AMP, V TOT, P a and f H we conclude that the O2 receptors involved in eliciting changes in gill ventilation and associated cardiovascular responses are present on all gill arches and monitor the O2 levels of both inspired water and blood perfusing the gills. We also conclude that air breathing arises solely from stimulation of branchial chemoreceptors and support the hypothesis that internal hypoxaemia is the primary drive to air breathing.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the São Paulo State Research Foundation, FAPESP, and the Brazilian National Research Council for Development of Sciences and Technology, CNPq (grants to Tadeu Rantin) and NSERC of Canada (grants to William. K. Milsom). We would like to thank Cosima Ciuhandu (Department of Zoology/UBC) and Tiago de Campos Belão (Department of Physiological Sciences/UFSCar) for their excellent assistance with these experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal University of São Carlos, Via Washington Luiz, km 235, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    Jane Mello Lopes, Cheila de Lima Boijink, Cleo Alcantara Costa Leite, Ana Lúcia Kalinin & Francisco Tadeu Rantin

  2. Department of Zoology and Botany, Aquaculture Center (CAUNESP), São Paulo State University, UNESP, São José do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil

    Luiz Henrique Florindo

  3. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    William K. Milsom

  4. National Institute of Science and Technology in Comparative Physiology (INCT-FAPESP/CNPq), São Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz Henrique Florindo, Cleo Alcantara Costa Leite, Ana Lúcia Kalinin & Francisco Tadeu Rantin

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  1. Jane Mello Lopes
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  2. Cheila de Lima Boijink
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  3. Luiz Henrique Florindo
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  4. Cleo Alcantara Costa Leite
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  5. Ana Lúcia Kalinin
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  6. William K. Milsom
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  7. Francisco Tadeu Rantin
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Correspondence to Francisco Tadeu Rantin.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier.

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Lopes, J.M., de Lima Boijink, C., Florindo, L.H. et al. Hypoxic cardiorespiratory reflexes in the facultative air-breathing fish jeju (Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus): role of branchial O2 chemoreceptors. J Comp Physiol B 180, 797–811 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-010-0461-2

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