Transcriptomic and functional analysis as strategies to understand determinate and indeterminate muscle growth patterns in fish

• Grant number: 22/15932-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Maeli Dal Pai
• Grantee: Maeli Dal Pai
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Bruno Oliveira da Silva Duran ; Daniel Garcia De La Serrana Castillo ; Rafael Henrique Nóbrega ; Rondinelle Artur Simões Salomão

Abstract

Muscular growth in fish occurs by hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Fish that present mosaic and stratified hyperplasia throughout life have indeterminate growth, such as Piaractus mesopotamicu (pacu) and fish with mosaic hyperplasia more restricted to the first days after hatching have determinate growth, such as Danio rerio (zebrafish).Numerous studies developed over the years have contributed to the knowledge about fish muscle growth, however, this process is not completely understood. In this sense, omics analyzes are efficient tools that provide a global view of genes that coordinate complex processes, such as muscle growth. In addition, the use of omics data from public databases is a strategy that can provide new information about biological networks involved with the control of phenotype and muscle growth. Thus, this project aims to analyze and compare the transcriptomic profile of skeletal muscle of P.mesopotamicus (pacu) and D.rerio (zebrafish), juvenile and adult, as well as identify possible markers of growth, maintenance and distinction of these muscle phenotypes. Aiming at these objectives, transcriptomic datasets of both adult species will be retrieved and downloaded from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). Concomitantly, we will carry out the sequencing of the skeletal muscle of the same species in the juvenile phase. The same processing pipeline, using specific bioinformatics tools, will be used for the data that will be downloaded and for those that will be sequenced. Based on these data, the following comparisons will be made: adult pacu x zebrafish; juvenile pacu x adult pacu; juvenile zebrafish x juvenile pacu, juvenile zebrafish x adult zebrafish. Through these comparisons, Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) will be obtained and used in ontology analysis and for the construction of molecular interaction networks. The Heatmap will be constructed for the proper interpretation of the generated data and for the selection of target genes among the comparisons, which will be validated by RT-qPCR and Western-blotting, in both species. Functional analyzes of gene inhibition or overexpression will also be performed using these targets in zebrafish (in vivo) and pacus (in vitro).Considering the robust methodology that will be used, it is expected that the knowledge generated by this project can contribute to studies involving the area of muscle biology in fish, aiming at application in the elaboration of future innovation projects, which are of great interest to the productive sector. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PEREZ, ERIKA STEFANI; DURAN, BRUNO OLIVEIRA SILVA; ZANELLA, BRUNA TEREZA THOMAZINI; DAL-PAI-SILVA, MAELI. Review: Understanding fish muscle biology in the indeterminate growth species pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus). COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, v. 285, p. 11-pg., 2023-11-01. (18/26428-0, 22/15932-5, 21/13905-8)