| Description: |
High latitude waters in the Southern Ocean can be near their freezing point and remain ice-covered throughout the year whereas lower latitude Southern Ocean waters have seasonal ice coverage. Both high and low latitude trematomids possess sufficient AFP (antifreeze protein) to lower their blood freezing point below that of seawater (− 1.9 °C). Here scientists investigated the contributions of AFGPs (antifreeze glycoproteins) and AFPPs (antifreeze potentiating proteins) to the blood freezing point depression of these trematomids to determine how they varied with depth, water temperature, and the presence of ice. [Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology: Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology]
|
 |
