Building a biological knowledge-base on fish lifecycles for competitive, sustainable European aquaculture

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Skeletal anomalies in reared European fish larvae and juveniles. Part 2: main typologies, occurrences and causative factors

Publication . Boglione, Clara; Gisbert, Enric; Gavaia, Paulo; Witten, Paul E.; Moren, Mori; Fontagne, Stephanie; Koumoundouros, Giorgos

The presence of skeletal anomalies in farmed teleost fish is currently a major problem in aquaculture, entailing economical, biological and ethical issues. The common occurrence of skeletal abnormalities in farmed fish and the absence of effective solutions for avoiding their onset or definitely culling out the affected individuals as early as possible from the productive cycle, highlight the need to improve our knowledge on the basic processes regulating fish skeletogenesis and skeletal tissues differentiation, modelling and remodelling. Severe skeletal anomalies may actually occur throughout the entire life cycle of fish, but their development often begins with slight aberrations of the internal elements. Comprehensive investigation efforts conducted on reared larvae and juveniles could provide a great contribution in filling the gap in knowledge, as skeletogenesis and skeletal tissue differentiation occur during these early life stages. The aim of this review is to provide a synthetic but comprehensive picture of the actual knowledge on the ontogeny, typologies and occurrence of skeletal anomalies, and on the proposed causative factors for their onset in larvae and juveniles of European farmed fish. The state-of-art of knowledge of these issues is analysed critically intending to individualize the main gaps of knowledge that require to be filled, in order to optimize the morphological quality of farmed juveniles.

2013-05Journal article

Open access

Temperature responsiveness of gilthead sea bream bone; an in vitro and in vivo approach

Publication . Riera-Heredia, Natalia; Martins, Rute; Patricia Mateus, Ana; Costa, Rita; Gisbert, Enric; Navarro, Isabel; Gutierrez, Joaquim; Power, Deborah M.; Capilla, Encarnacion

This study aimed to characterize the molecules involved in osteogenesis in seabream and establish using in vitro/in vivo approaches the responsiveness of selected key genes to temperature. The impact of a temperature drop from 23 to 13 degrees C was evaluated in juvenile fish thermally imprinted during embryogenesis. Both, in vitro/in vivo, Fib1a, appeared important in the first stages of bone formation, and Col1A1, ON and OP, in regulating matrix production and mineralization. OCN mRNA levels were up-regulated in the final larval stages when mineralization was more intense. Moreover, temperature-dependent differential gene expression was observed, with lower transcript levels in the larvae at 18 degrees C relative to those at 22 degrees C, suggesting bone formation was enhanced in the latter group. Results revealed that thermal imprinting affected the long-term regulation of osteogenesis. Specifically, juveniles under the low and low-to-high-temperature regimes had reduced levels of OCN when challenged, indicative of impaired bone development. In contrast, gene expression in fish from the high and high-to-low-temperature treatments was unchanged, suggesting imprinting may have a protective effect. Overall, the present study revealed that thermal imprinting modulates bone development in seabream larvae, and demonstrated the utility of the in vitro MSC culture as a reliable tool to investigate fish osteogenesis.

2018Journal article

Open access

Vertebrate SLRP family evolution and the subfunctionalization of osteoglycin gene duplicates in teleost fish

Publication . Costa, Rita; Brazona, Rute Sofia Tavares Martins; Capilla, E.; Anjos, Liliana; Power, Deborah

Background Osteoglycin (OGN, a.k.a. mimecan) belongs to cluster III of the small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRP) of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In vertebrates OGN is a characteristic ECM protein of bone. In the present study we explore the evolution of SLRP III and OGN in teleosts that have a skeleton adapted to an aquatic environment. Results The SLRP gene family has been conserved since the separation of chondrichthyes and osteichthyes. Few gene duplicates of the SLRP III family exist even in the teleosts that experienced a specific whole genome duplication. One exception is ogn for which duplicate copies were identified in fish genomes. The ogn promoter sequence and in vitro mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures suggest the duplicate ogn genes acquired divergent functions. In gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) ogn1 was up-regulated during osteoblast and myocyte differentiation in vitro, while ogn2 was severely down-regulated during bone-derived MSCs differentiation into adipocytes in vitro. Conclusions Overall, the phylogenetic analysis indicates that the SLRP III family in vertebrates has been under conservative evolutionary pressure. The retention of the ogn gene duplicates in teleosts was linked with the acquisition of different functions. The acquisition by OGN of functions other than that of a bone ECM protein occurred early in the vertebrate lineage.

2018-12-13Journal article

Open access

Coordinated regulation of chromatophore differentiation and melanogenesis during the ontogeny of skin pigmentation of Solea senegalensis (Kaup, 1858)

Publication . Darias, Maria J.; Andree, Karl B.; Boglino, Anais; Fernandez, Ignacio; Estevez, Alicia; Gisbert, Enric

Abnormal pigmentation of Senegalese sole has been described as one problem facing the full exploitation of its commercial production. To improve our understanding of flatfish pigmentation of this commercially important species we have evaluated eleven genes related to two different processes of pigmentation: melanophore differentiation, and melanin production. The temporal distribution of gene expression peaks corresponds well with changes in pigmentation patterns and the intensity of skin melanization. Several gene ratios were also examined to put in perspective possible genetic markers for the different stages of normal pigmentation development. Further, the phenotypic changes that occur during morphogenesis correspond well with the main transitions in gene expression that occur. Given the dramatic phenotypic alterations which flatfish undergo, including the asymmetric coloration that occurs between the ocular and the blind side, and the synchrony of the two processes of morphogenesis and pigmentation ontogenesis, these species constitute an interesting model for the study of pigmentation. In this study we present a first approximation towards explaining the genetic mechanisms for regulating pigmentation ontogeny in Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis.

2013-05Journal article

Open access

Skeletal anomalies in reared European fish larvae and juveniles. Part 1: normal and anomalous skeletogenic processes

Publication . Boglione, C.; Gavaia, Paulo J.; Koumoundouros, Giorgos; Gisbert, Enric; Moren, M.; Fontagné, Stéphanie; Witten, Paul

This critical review summarises the knowledge about fish skeletal tissues and inherent normal and anomalous development. Particular emphasis is given to existing literature on reared European fishes. The aim was to identify the main gaps of knowledge that require to be fulfilled, in order to precociously identify anomalous developmental patterns that lead to skeletal anomalies in reared finfish larvae and juveniles. The review also aims at to extending our knowledge about the factors that are possibly be involved in the onset of skeletal anomalies. The long period goal is the optimization of the morphological quality of farmed juvenile fish.

2013Journal article

Restricted access