A rapid transcriptome response is associated with desiccation resistance in aerially-exposed killifish embryos.

ABSTRACT: Delayed hatching is a form of dormancy evolved in some amphibian and fish embryos to cope with environmental conditions transiently hostile to the survival of hatchlings or larvae. While diapause and cryptobiosis have been extensively studied in several animals, very little is known concerning the molecular mechanisms involved in the sensing and response of fish embryos to environmental cues. Embryos of the euryhaline killifish Fundulus heteroclitus advance dvelopment when exposed to air but hatching is suspended until flooding with seawater. Here, we investigated how transcriptome regulation underpins this adaptive response by examining changes in gene expression profiles of aerially incubated killifish embryos at ∼100% relative humidity, compared to embryos continuously flooded in water.

SUBMITTER: Tingaud-Sequeira A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3669298 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature