Project description:Hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichthys verticalis) captured near sewage outfalls are used as sentinel fish for monitoring exposure to industrial and agricultural chemicals of ~20 million people living in coastal southern California. Although analyses of hormones in blood and organ morphology and histology in fish are useful for assessing exposure, there is a need for quantitative and sensitive molecular measurements, as many contaminants produce subtle effects. A novel multispecies microarray and qRT-PCR were used to investigate endocrine disruption in turbot captured near sewage outfalls in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles California. Analysis of expression of genes involved in hormone [e.g. estrogen, androgen, thyroid] responses and xenobiotic metabolism in turbot livers was correlated with phenotypic end points.
Project description:To identify genes associated with citrus peel development and manifestation of peel disorders, we analyzed flavedo, albedo and juice sac tissues from navel orange displaying, and not displaying, the puff disorder. Symptomatic and healthy M-bM-^@M-^\NavelM-bM-^@M-^] orange fruits were harvested from an orchard located in in Pauma Valley, San Diego County, California, USA. Sampling for all analysis (healthy or disordered Navel orange) was performed at the same time, from trees grown under the same agronomic, soil, and environmental conditions. Healthy and disordered fruits were analyzed at the mature stage. All transcriptome analysis was performed on mature fruit. For each type of fruit, three tissues (flavedo, albedo, and juice sacs) from three different trees (biological replicates) were separately analyzed. Four symptomatic fruits comprised one biological replicate each. Two healthy fruits comprised two biological replicates of control samples. A 1 cm-thick equatorial disc and four sections (N, S, E, and W) were cut per fruit. Each section of flavedo, albedo, and juice sac tissue was dissected. gene expression variation underlying quality trait, different genotypes
