First Name:
Margaret
Last Name:
Pray
Major Department:
Biology
Thesis Director:
Susan Edwards
Date of Thesis:
May 2013
Hagfishes are considered the most ancient of the extant jawless fishes, they are exclusively osmoconforming marine animals with most living at considerable depths, and are the only living vertebrates to maintain their plasma NaCl concentration almost iso-osmotic to that of seawater. Hagfishes feed on dead and decaying carcasses located on the sea floor, often invading the carcass via an orifice and eating their way out. In such circumstances hagfish can be exposed to extreme conditions including elevated ammonia concentrations. We know very little about how these animals produce or rid themselves of nitrogenous wastes. In this study we have identified an ortholog of the Rh glycoprotein gene family from the gills of Atlantic hagfish. The hagfish Rhcg (hRhcg) shares a 56-60% amino acid identity to other vertebrate Rhc cDNAs. A polyclonal antibody was raised against the hRhcg amino acid sequence and immunolocalization studies were performed.