Liver samples collected for investigations of enzyme activity of Glutathione-s-transferase in the Antarctic fish Dissostichus mawsoni and Pagothenia borchgrevinki

The level of the detoxication system in Antarctic fish from the enzyme glutathione-s-transferase was tested. Samples of liver from the Antarctic fish Dissostichus mawsoni and Pagothenia borchgrevinki were collected to test for the enzyme activity of the enzyme glutathione-s-transferase spectrophotometrically with chlorodinitrobenzene. Attemps were made to purify the enzyme using conventional gel chromatographic systems. The effects of freezing and storage were evaluated. This was a three phase programme to study the detoxication systems in Antarctic fish. The first phase involved the thermodynamic characterization of the spontaneous reaction, so reaction velocity could be calculated at any given pH or temperature. The second phase involves the thermodynamic characterization of enzymes from D. mawsoni being compared with those of other organisms with different temperature regimes (i.e. moth Galleria mellonella and a rat). The third phase involved the characterization of enzyme levels with different substrates. In particular endogenous xenobiotic substrates were examined. To summarize, the first phase examined the need for a detoxication system. The second examines any structural evolutionary change unique to the Antarctic and the third examines specialization of enzyme types that may have occurred to facilitate life in Antarctic waters.