Parental influences on lactate dehydrogenase in the early development of hybrid frogs in the genus <i>Rana</i>

Abstract

Abstract The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozymes of Rana pipiens pipiens, R. p. sphenocephala , and R. palustris were examined. LDH‐5 in all three organisms has the same electrophoretic mobility. There is a group of three to five bands in the LDH‐1 position which migrates fastest in R. pipiens sphenocephala , at an intermediate rate in R. pipiens , and slowest in R. palustris. Analysis of this multiple banding in the LDH‐1 position in R. pipiens suggests that these bands are distinct molecular forms. When the reciprocal crosses are made between frogs with different LDH patterns the maternal pattern persists in the embryo until stage 19 (heart beat) when hybrid and paternal bands first appear. The maternal contribution to the LDH pattern remains high, however, until stage 25 (feeding). In Rana sylvatica there are at least eighteen bands showing LDH activity. There are five bands in the LDH‐1 position, and the rest of the bands can be grouped into LDH‐2, LDH‐3, LDH‐4, and LDH‐5, all showing multiple bands. In the normal development of R. sylvatica there are marked shifts in the banding patterns in the LDH‐3, LDH‐4, and LDH‐5 groups between neurula and hatching, suggesting differential synthesis of the subunits forming these isozymes. In crosses between normal R. sylvatica females and a variant male which has additional bands in the LDH‐1 position, the paternal type bands appear after hatching.