Lactate dehydrogenase gene function in the blind cave fish, Anoptichthys jordani, and other characins

The functions of the genes encoded for lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in six genera of characins (teleost) were examined by electrophoretic and immunochemical analyses of the LDH isozymes. The characins possess the LDH A and B loci present in all vertebrates. The eyeless Mexican cave fish (Anoptichthys jordani) and other characins possessing normal eyes, e.g., Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus, which is able to hybridize with the cave fish), blue tetra (Mimagoniates microlepis), sailfin tetra (Crenuchus spilurus), head and tail light tetra (Hemigrammus ocellifer), and the piranha (Serrasalmus spilopleura), all lack the function of a third LDH locus (the E locus) present in many teleosts which codes for a distinctive isozyme synthesized in the nervous system, particularly in the neural retina.