A survey of tissue-specific isozyme expressions during chicken ontogeny.

The ontogenetic trends in the expression of 25 isozymes in liver, gizzard, heart, and pectoralis muscle of White Leghorn chickens were examined using starch gel electrophoresis. Little change in expression during development was evident in liver S-AAT-A, GPI-A, S-ICDH-A, S-MDH-A and M-MDH-A, in gizzard S-ACON-A, ADH-A, GPI-A, HK-1, HK-3, ME-A PEP-1, and PGM-A, in heart ADH-A, HK-1, HK-3, ME-A, PEP-2, PGM-A, and LDH-A, in pectoralis M-ACON-A, S-ACON-A, ADH-A, HK-1, HK-3, ME-A, PEP-2, and PGM-A, and in liver, gizzard, and heart M-ACON-A, ALD-A, CK-A, G3PDH-A, HK-1, and PGDH-A. Increasing levels of activity were demonstrated in liver ADH-A, ME-A, and PEP-2, in heart M-MDH-A, S-ICDH-A, M-ICDH, and M-AAT-A, and in pectoralis LDH-A, LDH-B, G3PDH-3, ALD-A, CK-A, HK-2, and PGM-B. There was a decrease in the activity of HK-1 in liver and in PEP-1 and PGDH-A in pectoralis muscle throughout development. While CK-C is active in the embryonic pectoralis, CK-A is restricted to later developmental stages. Isozyme expressions in regions of the pectoralis containing fast and slow muscle fibers in 7-month-posthatch individuals were noted and found to be identical. The results underscore the need to use similar developmental stages and tissue samples in comparative electrophoretic studies of birds.