Exploring the role of ammonia transporters (AMTs) in the branchial tissue of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus
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Date
2023-05
Authors
Whiting, Holly
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Abstract
All organisms must manage ammonia as it is highly toxic and a product of many essential biochemical processes. One group of proteins that facilitates the movement of ammonia across cell membranes is the Ammonia Transport Protein family which are generally sorted into three groups—ammonia transporters (AMTs), Rhesus glycoproteins (Rh proteins), and methylamine permeases (MEPs)—expressed in plants, animals, and fungi, respectively. Recently, transcripts of AMTs have also been found in invertebrates, where experimental evidence suggest that they play a role in both ammonia excretion and ammonia sensing. The American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, expresses at least two AMT and two Rh proteins within the epithelia of their book gills which is the primary surface for ammonia excretion. Each gill lamellae have a ventral ammonia permeable side and a dorsal ammonia impermeable side. mRNA transcripts for both proteins LpAMT-1 and LpAMT-3 were found on the dorsal and ventral surfaces, bringing into question their function in direct ammonia excretion. In oocyte expression trials both AMTs failed to mediate the transport of radiolabeled methylamine, while transport was detected for both a coral and a human Rh protein. Direct evidence of ammonia transport by invertebrate AMTs has not been previously found and further research should be conducted into the function of these proteins in invertebrates.
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Keywords
Limulus polyphemus, Horseshoe crab, ammonia transporters, AMTs