Lactate Dehydrogenase Systems of Rainbow Trout — Evidence for Polymorphism in Liver and Additional Subunits in Gills

Abstract

Three lactate dehydrogenase phenotypes, CC, CC′, and C′C′, were encountered in the livers of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) resident in Kokanee Creek, which flows into the west arm of Kootenay Lake, B.C. The rare subunit C occurred in high frequency in specimens from this area. Two additional lactate dehydrogenase subunits, designated E¹ and E² in this study, and not reported previously, were found in the gill tissues of common stocks of rainbow trout homozygous for the C′C′ phenotype, raising the total number of molecular species, based on 10 electrophoretically distinct subunits, to at least 23 for this species.