Project description:Hepatic gene expression profiling in male Zebrafish in response to estradiol exposure and aquatic xenobiotics 17alpha-ethynylestradiol, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and nonylphenol. Male zebrafish (Danio rerio) were purchased from commercial fish farm (Euroaquarium Spa Bologna, Italy). Approximately one hundred and twenty fish were received and divided evenly between three 80 l glass aquaria. Each aquarium was individually heated
Project description:Fish in aquaculture farms frequently face unfavarouble husbandry conditions and other unpredictable situations, which are sometimes part of routine procedures. However, managing stress originated from these situations is crucial to ensure the sustainability of the production. When fish is exposed to prolonged stress, and overload of the physiological systems can occur and the fish may no longer be able to adapt and restore homeostasis, and this can impair the animal performance, such as growth and immunity, and consequently fish welfare. In this study the genes and gene families responsible for the molecular stress response to different challenges in gilthead seabream was assessed. Gilthead seabream adults were exposed to overcrowding, net-handling and hypoxia, in separate trials, each against a control group. Overcrowding and net-handling trials lasted for a month and half (chronic stress) and hypoxia for 48h (acute stress). The liver was the chosen organ for this transcriptomics analysis as this plays a crucial role in stress adaptation. The characterization of stress adaptation mechanisms provides valuable knowledge for the future selective breeding of more resilient commercial species that can thrive under changing conditions and adapt well to life in captivity, while ensuring high welfare standards.
Project description:To study the effects of bacterial infection upon gene expression changes in flounder liver fish were artificially "infected" by injection with a commercial water-based vaccine containing killed Aeromonas salmonicida, the bacterium responsible for furunculosis, which, as its name describes, presents as external lesions (furuncles, "lumps"). This disease occurs in flounder as well as in salmonids. Flounders were treated by intraperitoneal injection with 1ml/kg Furunculosis vaccine (Schering-Plough, Aquavac Furovac 5, batch number FNM/C/007). 30 control fish were injected with 1% saline. Animals were then maintained unfed in static aerated sea water tanks in a constant temperature containment aquarium. Water was renewed every 2 days. After 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 days, 6 vaccine treated and 6 saline control fish were removed, killed by a blow to the head and samples of liver tissue were immediately homogenized in TriReagent prior to gene expression profiling. Microarray experiments consisted an individual array for each of 4 or 5 fish from each timepoint and each treatment compared with an artificial reference sample.
Project description:We employed a transgenic strain of a small aquarium fish medaka (Oryzias latipes) that overexpresses a malignant melanoma driver gene. In this model, melanoma develops with 100 % penetrance. Using the medaka malignant melanoma model, we tested whether cisplatin and trametinib are able to suppress the transcriptomic changes induced by the transgene.
Project description:This study describes the development and validation of the Aquagenomic Sparus aurata oligonucleotide-microarray (SAQ) based on the Agilent Technology system (eArray) to provide a platform for studies on the gene expression of gilthead seabream. The platform developed used all available public ESTs stored and annotated in the Aquagenomic Consortium seabream library (10K). In fish, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) gives a robust cytokine response that is stimulated by crude LPS preparations, some component of the LPS complex are responsible for this stimulation. Peptidoglycan (PGN) is a component of G-negative bacteria (found as a contaminant of crude LPS preparations) able to be recognized by macrophages inducing depth transcriptional modulations and a strong inflammatory response. For microarray analysis, head kidney macrophage cultures were used (N = 36 fish). Each cell culture was stimulated with equal concentrations of PGN and LPS from E. coli O111:B4 strain (10 ug/mL): non-stimulated cell cultures (control n = 9 fish), stimulated during 6 h with LPS (n = 9), and stimulated during 1 h (n = 9), and 6 h (n = 9) with PGN. A loop microarray design approach was used for the study. All experimental RNA samples were labelled with a single colour dye (Cy3) and each stimulated sample was compared to the control sample (pool without stimulation) labelled with the same dye (Cy3). Our microarray analyses identified differential transcriptional modulations in macrophages stimulated with both LPS and PGN at the level of differentially activated RNA transcripts related with the regulation of transcriptional program, prostaglandin synthesis or highlighting the expression of responsive gene-cassettes tightly related to LPS-PGN host recognition. A total of 43,398 oligonucleotide probes were used to construct a high-density seabream microarray based on the Agilent 4 × 44 K design format. Microarray hybridization validation was made by analyzing the gene expression profiles in primary cultures of seabream macrophages (MC). 7,285 transcripts with annotated sequences were spotted in triplicate onto the slide (total probes 21,855), as well as 8,377 ESTs without annotation, 183 enriched sequences (gene bank) with 15 replicated probes (total probes 2,745), and finally 1,417 internal control probes of Agilent (N = 43,398).
Project description:The discus fish (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) is an ornamental fish, which occupies important position on the freshwater aquarium trade. We built two cDNA libraries from an adult male brain and an adult female brain, and performed RNA-sequencing for identifying sex-biased candidate genes , a total number of 40209 non-redundant genes (unigenes) were obtained, of which 250 unigenes were significant overexpressed in the male brain, and 436 unigenes were significant overexpressed in the female. A total of 439 miRNAs were identified, of which 60 miRNAs were differentially expressed between male brain and female brain. These results can provide important evidence for better understanding the molecular mechanisms of the brain's amphoteric dimorphism in discus fish
Project description:This study investigates the impact of two commercial diets referred to as diet A and diet B on protein expression in the brain, liver, and intestine of barramundi. The diets were very similar in terms of crude fat and protein content, but diet B contained more fish meal and less protein from land animals. The feeding trial was conducted over 12 weeks to assess how differences in diet content influence fish health and growth at a molecular level. Throughout the trial, fish were fed twice daily, and water quality (including oxygen, salinity, ammonia, and pH) were monitored and adjusted daily. Proteins were extracted using a modified RIPA buffer and quantitative proteomic analysis was performed via data-independent acquisition (DIA) on a Q-Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer. Data was processed using DIA-NN and FragPipe. In order to validate findings from the proteomic data analysis which indicated effects on iron metabolism, iron concentrations in the tissues were measured using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). These commercial diets serve as a nutritional benchmark for evaluating potential future feed formulations, such as the fermented tuna trimming fish meal. By first establishing a baseline with commonly used commercial feeds, this chapter sets the foundation for comparing the effectiveness and nutritional value of novel, sustainable protein sources for barramundi.