Global expression profile of piRNAs in skeletal muscle of Piaractus mesopotamicus (pacu), Colossoma macropomum (tambaqui) and its hybrid, tambacu

• Grant number: 17/16479-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date until: January 01, 2018
• End date until: December 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Maeli Dal Pai
• Grantee: Tassiana Gutierrez de Paula
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The species Colossoma macropomum (tambaqui) and Piaractus mesopotamicus (pacu) are widely accepted in the consumer market and have desirable production characteristics, such as rapid growth and optimal adaptation to different types of feeding. These species comprise similar eating habits, but a variation in terms of better temperature for production. Therefore, the individuals originated from the hybridization between the two species, the tambacu, have the capacity to adapt to temperatures of approximately 20 ° C (characteristic of pacu), and can reach an approximate weight gain of tambaqui (± 30 Kg), desirable characteristics for the production environment. It is known that skeletal muscle, in fish, accounts for about 40-70% of the animal's body weight and has commercial value because it is an important protein source used in human food. The development, growth and maintenance of the skeletal muscle phenotype is controlled by signaling pathways responsible for cellular functions and the regulation of levels and patterns of expression of these genes is performed by intramolecular and intermolecular events. Recently a new class of small non-coding RNAs, called piRNAs, involved in the control of molecular pathways has been described. The piRNAs are small RNA molecules that primarily regulate transposon activity through post-transcriptional silencing (translation repression or transcription silencing of the target gene). With the advent of new sequencing technologies, large-scale analysis of piRNAs represents an extremely effective alternative in the characterization of these molecules, as well as in the analysis of their role in the post transcriptional gene control and the prediction of signaling pathways involved with cellular processes Through the construction of networks. A global analysis of the expression of the piRNAs in striated musculature of the pacu, tambaqui and tambacu will be of great importance to understand how these molecules behave and what variations exist among the genotypes, helping to clarify their mode of action in the signaling pathways that control the growth As well as in the maintenance processes of the muscular phenotype among the three genotypes. Thus, this project aims to analyze the overall profile of the expression of piRNAs in an integrated fashion between white musculature of juveniles of tambaqui, pacu and hybrid tambacu, in order to identify the transcriptional profiles of piRNAs involved in muscle growth. The results obtained can serve as references for other studies, in this same line of research, in other Brazilian species of fish of commercial interest, as well as contribute to a possible identification of markers related to muscle growth.

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)

DE PAULA, TASSIANA GUTIERREZ; THOMAZINI ZANELLA, BRUNA TEREZA; DE MORAES, LEONARDO NAZARIO; VALENTE, JESSICA SILVINO; NASCIMENTO-OLIVEIRA, JORDANA INACIO; MARECO, EDSON ASSUNCAO; FERNANDEZ, GEYSSON JAVIER; DAL-PAI-SILVA, MAELI. egree of piRNA sharing and Piwi gene expression in the skeletal muscle of Piaractus mesopotamicus (pacu), Colossoma macropomum (tambaqui), and the hybrid tambac. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, v. 264, FEB 2022. (17/16479-4, 16/05009-4)