Molecular Population Genetics and Breeding Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604, Singapore.
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2021 Jun;23(3):445-455. doi: 10.1007/s10126-021-10036-5. Epub 2021 May 16.
Ocean acidification is changing the fate of marine organisms. It is essential to predict the biological responses and evolutionary processes driven by ocean acidification, to maintain the equilibrium of the marine ecosystem and to facilitate aquaculture. However, how marine organisms, particularly the marine fish species, respond to ocean acidification, is still poorly understood. Consequences of ocean acidification on finfish aquaculture are largely not well known. We studied the effects of ocean acidification for 7 days on growth, behaviour and gene expression profiles in the brain, gill and kidney of Asian seabass juveniles. Results showed that growth and behaviour were not affected by short-term ocean acidification. We found tissue-specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involving many molecular processes, such as organ development, growth, muscle development, ion homeostasis and neurogenesis and development, as well as behaviours. Most of the DEGs, which were functionally enriched in ion homeostasis, were related to calcium transport, followed by sodium/potassium channels. We found that genes associated with neurogenesis and development were significantly enriched, implying that ocean acidification has also adversely affected the neural regulatory mechanism. Our results indicate that although the short-term ocean acidification does not cause obvious phenotypic and behavioural changes, it causes substantial changes of gene expressions in all three analysed tissues. All these changes of gene expressions may eventually affect physiological fitness. The DEGs identified here should be further investigated to discover DNA markers associated with adaptability to ocean acidification to improve fish's capability to adapt to ocean acidification.
海洋酸化正在改变海洋生物的命运。预测海洋酸化驱动的生物响应和进化过程对于维持海洋生态系统的平衡和促进水产养殖至关重要。然而，海洋生物，特别是海洋鱼类，如何对海洋酸化做出响应，仍然知之甚少。海洋酸化对海水养殖鱼类的影响在很大程度上还不为人知。我们研究了短期海洋酸化对亚洲鲈鱼幼鱼大脑、鳃和肾脏生长、行为和基因表达谱的影响。结果表明，短期海洋酸化对生长和行为没有影响。我们发现组织特异性差异表达基因（DEGs）涉及许多分子过程，如器官发育、生长、肌肉发育、离子稳态和神经发生和发育以及行为。大多数 DEGs 在离子稳态方面具有功能富集，与钙转运有关，其次是钠/钾通道。我们发现与神经发生和发育相关的基因显著富集，这意味着海洋酸化也对神经调节机制产生了不利影响。我们的研究结果表明，尽管短期海洋酸化不会导致明显的表型和行为变化，但它会导致所有三个分析组织中的基因表达发生实质性变化。所有这些基因表达的变化最终可能会影响生理适应性。这里鉴定的 DEGs 应进一步研究，以发现与适应海洋酸化相关的 DNA 标记，从而提高鱼类适应海洋酸化的能力。
