Project description:The proliferative darkening syndrome (PDS) is an annually recurring disease that causes species-specific die-off of brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) in PDS-impacted pre-alpine rivers of central Europe. The mortality rate for PDS is near 100% and consequently the survival of brown trout populations in the impacted regions is threatened. The progression of PDS occurs in two stages, a subclinical stage and a symptomatic stage, over a time period of more than 3 months starting in spring and culminating with the die-off of brown trout in late summer. Based on experimental evidence it is hypothesized that PDS is caused by an infectious agent. To substantiate this working hypothesis as well as to discern the type of pathogen likely to be responsible for PDS, microarray analysis were conducted using a salmonid-specific cDNA microarray to assess the hepatic immune response of brown trout during the progression of PDS in 7-day intervals over a time period of 98 days.The microarray analysis revealed that brown trout suffering from PDS exhibit increased hepatic expression of important anti-viral genes both during the subclinical stage of PDS, namely the Barrier-to-autointegration factor, and during the symptomatic stage of PDS, namely the interferon regulatory factor 1 as well as the Guanylate-binding protein 1. Additionally, during the symptomatic stage of PDS there is strong hepatic up-regulation of the chemokine CCL19, complement components C1QC and C6, Proteasome activator complex subunits 1 and 2 as well as a variety of both MHC class I and MHC class II transcripts. In conclusion, the increased expression of hepatic immune response genes involved in a variety of immune system processes that mediate defense against infection identified by the microarray analysis during the progression of PDS support the working hypothesis that PDS is caused by an infectious agent. Furthermore, the up-regulation of antiviral immune response genes during both the subclinical stage and the symptomatic stage of PDS suggests that this disease is caused by a pathogenic virus. On May 29, 2008, brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) of the same age class (1+) with an individual weight ranging between 25-85 grams were obtained from a single hatchery (Schwäbischer Fischereihof Salgen, Fachberatung für Fischerei Schwaben, Germany) and randomly allocated to one of two different experimental stations that are both located along the Iller river, named here simply the control station (location by Oberstdorf, Germany) and the treatment station (location by Kempten, Germany). At both experimental stations brown trout were held in tanks (n=750 at the treatment station and n=70 at the control station) that were supplied with water from the Iller river in a flow-through system. Sampling at both experimental stations started on May 29, 2008, which was also the day on which the fish were first transferred to their exposure tanks (referred to as 0 day post exposure; d.p.e), and ended on the 5th of September 2008. At the treatment station 3 fish were sampled each day (always at 2pm), whereas at the control station 3 fish were sampled in 7-day intervals (always at 12 noon). Fish were anaesthetized by a blow to the head and organ tissue of interest (liver, kidney, spleen, gill, muscle, stomach and foregut tissue) were immediately harvested from sacrificed fish, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and subsequently stored at -80°C. Livers from the three brown trout (n=3) that were sampled concurrently from both treatment and control group (n=2) in 7-day intervals starting 7 d.p.e (7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, 77, 84, 91 and 98 d.p.e; n=14) were recruited for the use in the microarray analysis. Microarray analyses were performed using a direct comparison two-channel design in which equimolar amounts of liver sample of one brown trout from both treatment and control group were co-hybridized on the same microarray. For each time point (n=14) microarray co-hybridizations were repeated in triplicate (n=3) and included one dye-swap in order to reduce dye-bias. Thus a total of 42 microarray slides were used in this study (3 biological replicate microarrays x 14 time points = 42 microarrays).

Project description:These studies aimed to investigate the hepatic transcriptional response of brown trout to the natural estrogen, E2, and the herbicide linuron. We exposed mature male brown trout to three concentrations of each chemical for 4 days and sequenced the hepatic transcriptome of 3 individuals per treatment group in order to determine the global mechanisms of toxicity of these environmental contaminants. We assembled the brown trout transcriptome using a de novo approach. Subsequent differential expression analysis identified a total of 2113 differentially-regulated transcripts in the group exposed to the highest E2 treatment concentration, and 822 differentially-regulated transcripts across all linuron treatments. For E2, differentially-expressed transcripts included those encoding known oestrogen-responsive genes, while regulated processes included those associated with vitellogenesis including lipid metabolism, cellular proliferation and ribosome biogenesis. For linuron, there was a striking down-regulation of transcripts encoding the majority of the enzymes involved in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, and also a considerable induction of transcripts involved in cellular stress response including Cyp1a. Fish were exposed to 3 concentrations of E2 (measured concentrations were 1.9, 18.1 and 34.4 ng/L), 3 concentrations of linuron (measured concentrations were 1.7, 15.3 and 225.9 µg/L) and water controls for 4 days. Liver mRNA from 3 replicate individuals per treatment was sequenced in an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Two control groups (n=6 fish in total) were included. Using a de novo approach, we assembled the hepatic transcriptome for brown trout. Sequence reads were re-mapped to the assembled transcriptome using Bowtie2 and transcript expression profiling was conducted using EdgeR. ERCC spike controls were added to all individual samples, allowing for the assessment of the reproducibility and dynamic range for transcript expression quantification in our experiments.

Project description:This study aimed to investigate the hepatic transcriptional response of brown trout to glyphosate, and its formulated product, Roundup. We exposed juvenile female brown trout to three concentrations of glyphosate (0.01, 0.5 and 10 mg/L) and Roundup (0.01, 0.5 and 10 mg/L glyphosate acid equivalent) for 14 days and sequenced the hepatic transcriptome of 6 individual females per treatment group in order to determine the global mechanisms of toxicity of this widely used herbicide. We assembled the brown trout transcriptome using an optimised de novo approach, and subsequent differential expression analysis identified a total of 1020 differentially-regulated transcripts across all treatments. Differentially-expressed transcripts included those encoding components of the antioxidant system, a number of stress-response proteins and pro-apoptotic signalling molecules. Functional analysis also revealed over-representation of pathways involved in regulation of cell-proliferation and turnover, and up-regulation of energy metabolism and other metabolic processes. Together, these transcriptional changes are consistent with generation of oxidative stress and the widespread induction of compensatory cellular stress response pathways. The mechanisms of toxicity identified were similar across both glyphosate and Roundup treatments, including for environmentally relevant concentrations. The significant alterations in transcript expression observed at the lowest concentrations tested raises concerns for the toxicity of this herbicide to fish populations inhabiting contaminated rivers. Fish were exposed to 3 concentrations of glyphosate (0.01, 0.1 and 10 mg/L), 3 concentrations of Roundup (0.01, 0.5 and 10 mg/L glyphosate acid equivalent) and water controls for 14 days. Liver mRNA from 6 replicate individuals per treatment was sequenced in an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Two control groups (n=6 fish per group) were included. Using a de novo approach, we assembled the hepatic transcriptome for brown trout. Sequence reads were re-mapped to the assembled transcriptome using Bowtie2 and transcript expression profiling was conducted using EdgeR. ERCC spike controls were added to all individual samples, allowing for the assessment of the reproducibility and dynamic range for transcript expression quantification in our experiments. For the group exposed to 0.1 mg/L glyphosate, only 3 females were available to sequence and the variability between individuals was very high with 1 female identified as an outlier. For this reason, data from this treatment group was deemed unreliable and excluded from the analysis.

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Vesta brown trout

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