Abstract
Embryos of Austrofundulus limnaeus are exceptional in their ability to tolerate prolonged bouts of complete anoxia. Hypoxia and anoxia are a normal part of their developmental environment. Here, we exposed embryos to a range of PO2 levels at two different temperatures (25 and 30 °C) to study the combined effects of reduced oxygen and increased temperature on developmental rate, heart rate, and metabolic enzyme capacity. Hypoxia decreased overall developmental rate and caused a stage-specific decline in heart rate. However, the rate of early development prior to the onset of organogenesis is insensitive to PO2. Increased incubation temperature caused an increase in the developmental rate at high PO2s, but hindered developmental progression under severe hypoxia. Embryonic DNA content in pre-hatching embryos was positively correlated with PO2. Citrate synthase, lactate dehydrogenase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase capacity were all reduced in embryos developing under hypoxic conditions. Embryos of A. limnaeus are able to develop normally across a wide range of PO2s and contrary to most other vertebrates severe hypoxia is not a teratogen. Embryos of A. limnaeus do not respond to hypoxia through an increase in the capacity for enzymatic activity of the metabolic enzymes lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Instead they appear to adjust whole-embryo metabolic capacity to match oxygen availability. However, decreased DNA content in hypoxia-reared embryos suggests that cellular enzymatic capacity may remain unchanged in response to hypoxia, and the reduced capacity may rather indicate reduced cell number in hypoxic embryos.