ARS | Publication request: Genomic Resources for Studying Early Life Stage Salmonid Health

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: July 18, 2006
Publication Date: July 18, 2006
Citation: Rise, M., Honeyfield, D.C., Devlin, R.H., Rexroad III, C.E., Davidson, W.S., Koop, B.F. 2006. Genomic resources for studying early life stage salmonid health. Meeting Abstract. 7:192

Technical Abstract: Genomic approaches are being used to study pathological and normal processes in early life stage salmonids. Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), a disease associated with low egg thiamine levels, causes early life stage mortality and low recruitment of Great Lakes salmonids including lake trout. We used GRASP microarrays, quantitative RTPCR (QPCR), and suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library construction and characterization, to identify key genes dysregulated in thiamine deficient lake trout eggs and embryos relative to thiamine replete individuals. We hypothesize that the functional annotations of informative genes will point to molecular pathways altered in EMS. Molecular biomarkers of thiamine deficiency will be tested in QPCR-based assays on templates prepared from feral lake trout eggs of various thiamine levels. The goal of this research is to provide a complete picture of the molecular causes of EMS. This knowledge may lead to the development of tools for selection of EMS-resistant broodstock. In addition, GRASP microarrays and SSH libraries have been used to study global gene expression changes occurring during normal rainbow trout embryonic development. This work will improve the characterization of embryonic salmonid transcriptomes, paving the way for development of genomic tools tailored to studies involving early life stage salmonids. Funded by the Shaw Foundation (MLR) and Genome Canada (WSD and BFK).