Allometric scaling of RNA, DNA, and enzyme levels: an intraspecific study

The activities of oxidative and glycolytic enzymes show body size-dependent relationships across a wide variety of taxa; however, the mechanistic basis remains unknown. We sampled white epaxial muscle from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) spanning a 100-fold range in body mass. We measured activities of enzymes from aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways, RNA [total RNA and mRNA, pyruvate kinase (PK), citrate synthase (CS), and MyoD mRNA], and total DNA. Total RNA and DNA showed a biphasic relationship with body size, with a break point occurring after fish reached 1 yr of age. In contrast, total RNA/total DNA was constant across the entire size range. Neither CS activity nor CS mRNA levels scaled with body mass. PK activity and PK mRNA levels increased in parallel in yearling fish only (r(2) = 0.91, P < 0.01). This suggests that although PK expression is transcriptionally regulated in yearlings, the molecular mechanisms regulating expression change with growth and age. This was supported by a positive correlation between MyoD and PK mRNA levels (r(2) = 0.17, P < 0.05).