Mitochondrial distribution and glycogen dynamics suggest diffusion constraints in muscle fibers of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus

The scaling of mitochondrial distribution, citrate synthase activity, and post-contractile glycogen recovery was examined in muscle fibers of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. The fast-twitch muscle fibers of C. sapidus can reach extremely large dimensions, which may impose constraints on aerobic metabolic processes. However, muscle cells from small crabs are not giant, meaning that during development muscle fibers cross and greatly exceed the surface area to volume (SAV) and diffusion threshold that is adhered to by the cells of most organisms. Cell diameters in the smallest size class were similar or equal to 100 mum, while the largest size class had cell diameters in excess of 500 gm. In the smallest cells, the fractional area of subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria was similar. However, in the largest cells, mitochondria were almost exclusively subsarcolemmal. Total fractional area of mitochondria was highest in the largest cells due to a proliferation of subsarcolemmal mitochondria. In contrast, citrate synthase activity decreased as cell size increased. Following burst contractile activity, glycogen concentrations decreased significantly and remained depressed for several hours in muscle comprised of giant cells, consistent with previous findings that anaerobic glycogenolysis fuels certain components of post-contractile recovery. However, in muscle composed of the smallest muscle cells, glycogen levels did not decrease significantly following burst activity. While normal scaling of aerobic metabolism would predict a slower aerobic recovery in larger animals, the present results suggest that cellular organization, SAV, and intracellular diffusion distances also impose constraints on aerobic processes in C. sapidus.(C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.