Publication Abstract

Aquaculture is essential for helping to meet current and future food demands for the growing human population. However, production is threatened by a multitude of stressors, including adverse temperature. The propensity for environmental temperature during early embryo development to influence later life transcriptomic responses has been observed in numerous animal species, and, if harnessed, could provide a method for inducing phenotypic changes in adult aquaculture species. We hypothesise that exposure of rainbow trout embryos to temperature stress will result in alterations to transcriptional responsiveness upon re-exposure later in life. To test this hypothesis, we exposed embryos to a range of different heat shock treatments during early development and then analysed their response to thermal stress at five days post hatch (dph). Hsp70a and hsp70b transcription was measured (using RT-QPCR) as a biomarker for thermal stress response. Greater transcriptional induction of hsp70a in response to post-hatch thermal stress was observed in heat shocked larvae compared to naïve larvae (β = 0.0044, t = 2.751, p = 0.0085). The timing, intensity and duration of the initial heat shock did not significantly influence the alteration of hsp induction when compared to that of naïve larvae. Together, these results support our hypothesis that heat shock during early development has the potential to affect responsiveness to the same stressor later in life. Future studies should focus on understanding whether this could be utilised to increase robustness of fish in aquaculture

Rob J. McFarling, Mickael Teixeira Alves*, Anke Lange, Millie Clark, Harry J. Woodrow_, Ioanna Katsiadaki*, Ronny van Aerle* and Eduarda M. Santos