Electrophoretic comparison of the proteins of some perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) head muscles.

Biochemical analysis of perch body and head muscle myosins and parvalbumins was made by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. White and red body muscle myosins were characterized with regard to the light chains. THe existence of slow red-type myosin was demonstrated in the jaw adductor A3 (15%), in the adductor operculi (7%) and in the red part of the levator operculi anterior (34%). The presence of red fibres in these muscles was also reflected in the distribution of the sarcoplasmic calcium-binding proteins, the parvalbumins. These muscles were mainly implicated in slow continuous movements such as respiration. These results were compared to histochemical and functional aspects of perch head muscle differentiation. Close agreement was found between biochemical, histochemical and electromyographical methods of muscle analysis.