Project description:The experiment focused on the transcriptomic changes associated with gill inflammation in sea farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). To ensure the multifactorial aspect of gill inflammation, fish were sampled at three marine production sites (A on Isle of Mull, B in Shetland and C in Shetland) between October 2017 and March 2018. All fish were of strain Fanad and originated from the same egg fertilisation batch. They were reared in different hatcheries (Couldoran, Pettigo-Damph and Knock-Frisa for sites A, B and C, respectively) for one year and entered the sea in spring 2017. The resultant gill tissues (44 samples in total with 1 gill sample per fish) were first scored for proliferative gill disease (PGD), using gross morphology PGD scores from 0 with no visual pathology to 5 with severe visual pathology, and then subjected to RNA-seq and histopathological (microscopic) examination. One RNA-seq sample (fish 95) was identified as an outlier and removed from the subsequent analysis. As a result, the analysis aiming to integrate gill transcriptome, gross morphology and histopathology was performed on 43 gill samples, classified either as PGD score 1 (n = 26) or PGD score 3 (n = 17). In total, 20 gill samples originated from site A (10 with PGD1 and 10 with PGD 3, 10 samples from site B (7 with PGD1 and 3 with PGD 3) and 13 samples from site C (9 with PGD1 and 4 with PGD 3).
Project description:This projiect aims to identify the proteome of the symbiotic gill, including the host and symbiotic bacteria proteins, and to reveal the metabolic interdependence among the tripartite holobiont which is based on mussel, methane-oxidizing endosymbiont and sulfur-oxidizing episymbiont.
Project description:Bathymodiolus mussels inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents harbor bacterial symbionts in their gills, which support the animals’ diet. While the basic mechanisms of energy generation and CO2 fixation that drive these symbioses are largely established, details of molecular interactions between the symbiotic partners and adaptations to their respective habitats remain unknown. In this study, we therefore comparatively examined the genomes and proteomes of two Bathymodiolus hosts and their respective symbionts from different geographical locations. Two mussel species were proteomically compared: i) B. thermophilus mussel containing sulfur-oxidizing symbiont from the east pacific rise. thermophilus and ii) B. azoricus containing thiotrophic and methanotrophic symbionts from the mid-atlantic ridge. Symbionts (for both species) and host components (for B. azoricus) were selectively enriched using a multi-step centrifugation procedure. Enriched host and symbiont fractions along with unenriched gill foot tissue were subject to in-depth semi-quantitative proteomic analyses using the orbitrap and velos mass spectrometers. Proteins were quantified based on their spectral counts using the normalized spectral abundance factor (NSAF) method. We identified common strategies of metabolic interactions that provide mutual nutritional support between host and symbionts, such as the detoxification of ambient sulfide by the Bathymodiolus host, which provides a stable thiosulfate reservoir for the thiotrophic symbionts, and a putative amino acid cycling mechanism that could supply the host with symbiont-derived amino acids. A suite of genes and proteins putatively related to virulence or defense functions was particularly abundant in the B. thermophilus symbiont, compared to its symbiont relatives, and may pose a host species-specific adaptation. Our results reveal both, a high degree of integration between the symbiotic partners, and great potential to adapt to the prevailing environment, which facilitate the holobiont’s survival in its hydrothermal vent habitat.
Project description:In this study we characterize the gill transcriptome changes that coincide with the arrival of contaminating oil in field-collected Gulf killifish Fundulus grandis. Gill transcription was contrasted before and after the arrival of oil, and between oil impacted and reference sites. Animals were sampled from field sites at four times. The oil impacted site is Grand Terre Island Louisiana (GT) and the two reference sites are Bay St. Louis Mississippi (BSL) and Bayou La Batre Alabama (BLB). The first timepoint (05/01/2010 to 05/09/2010) was before the arrival of contaminating oil, the second and third timepoints (06/28/2010 to 06/29/2010, and 08/30/2010 to 09/01/2010) were after the arrival of contaminating oil, and the fourth timepoint 08/28/2011) was over a year after the arrival of contaminating oil.