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Hyperactive antifreeze protein in a fish

Nature volume 429, page 153 (2004)Cite this article

This plasma protein offers the winter flounder extra protection against icy polar waters.

Abstract

Fish that live in the polar oceans survive at low temperatures by virtue of ‘antifreeze’ plasma proteins1 in the blood that bind to ice crystals and prevent these from growing. However, the antifreeze proteins isolated so far from the winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus), a common fish in the Northern Hemisphere, are not sufficiently active to protect it from freezing in icy sea water. Here we describe a previously undiscovered antifreeze protein from this flounder that is extremely active (as effective as those found in insects) and which explains the resistance of this fish to freezing in polar and subpolar waters.

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Figure 1: Fractionation and specific activity of winter-flounder antifreeze proteins (AFPs).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Ontario, Canada

    Christopher B. Marshall & Peter L. Davies

  2. Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, A1C 5S7, Newfoundland, Canada

    Garth L. Fletcher

Authors
  1. Christopher B. Marshall
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  2. Garth L. Fletcher
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  3. Peter L. Davies
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter L. Davies.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Marshall, C., Fletcher, G. & Davies, P. Hyperactive antifreeze protein in a fish. Nature 429, 153 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429153a

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