Impact of temperature on the growth of Piracanjuba fish (Brycon orbignyanus) - a molecular and histological analysis

• Grant number: 24/23063-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Karine Assis Costa
• Grantee: Luana Castelli Gama
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The specie Brycon orbignyanus, popularly known as piracanjuba, is a native and rheophilic species, and faces extinction risks due to environmental degradation and overfishing. It is highly valued for the quality of its meat and potential for captive breeding, but its sensitivity to temperature variations and climate change make studies on the impact of temperature on its growth and metabolism essential for its conservation and production. The objectives of the work include evaluating the effect of different temperatures on the expression of genes related to growth, examining muscle fibers in response to different thermal conditions and relating phenotypic and histological data with the molecular results obtained in order to understand the interactions between environmental and genetic factors in the growth of piracanjuba. The work proposes to analyze muscle tissue histologically and gene expression will be evaluated by RT-qPCR. In addition, at the end of the experiment, it is expected to determine which genes associated with growth are sensitive to temperature variations and also identify structural changes in muscle tissue caused by different temperatures. (AU)