mRNA-seq reveals skeletal muscle atrophy in response to handling stress in a marine teleost, the red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis)

Abstract

BackgroundFish reared under intensive conditions are repeatedly exposed to stress, which negatively impacts growth. Although most fish follow a conserved pattern of stress response, with increased concentrations of cortisol, each species presents specificities in the cell response and stress tolerance. Therefore, culturing new species requires a detailed knowledge of these specific responses. The red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis) is a new economically important marine species for the Chilean aquaculture industry. However, there is no information on the stress- and cortisol-induced mechanisms that decrease skeletal muscle growth in this teleost.ResultsUsing Illumina RNA-seq technology, skeletal muscle sequence reads for G. chilensis were generated under control and handling stress conditions. Reads were mapped onto a reference transcriptome, resulting in the in silico identification of 785 up-regulated and 167 down-regulated transcripts. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed a significant up-regulation of catabolic genes associated with skeletal muscle atrophy. These results were validated by RT-qPCR analysis for ten candidates genes involved in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, autophagy and skeletal muscle growth. Additionally, using a primary culture of fish skeletal muscle cells, the effect of cortisol was evaluated in relation to red cusk-eel skeletal muscle atrophy.ConclusionsThe present data demonstrated that handling stress promotes skeletal muscle atrophy in the marine teleost G. chilensis through the expression of components of the ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy-lysosome systems. Furthermore, cortisol was a powerful inductor of skeletal muscle atrophy in fish myotubes. This study is an important step towards understanding the atrophy system in non-model teleost species and provides novel insights on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control skeletal muscle growth in early vertebrates.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2232-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transcriptomic analysis of the hepatic response to stress in the red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis): Insights into lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and liver steatosis

“…Handling-stress facilitates red cusk-eel skeletal muscle atrophy through the coordinated expression of components of the ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy-lysosome systems, revealing particularities in the compensatory response to stress [24]. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluate the hepatic response to handling-stress in the red cusk-eel using RNA-seq analysis, using a recently reported hybrid reference transcriptome [25].…”

The first chromosome‐level genome for a marine mammal as a resource to study ecology and evolution

“…Some of these PSGs have already been reported in marine mammals (Table S16), such as SLC16A1 (solute carrier family 16 member 1; related to adaptation to long dives) and GPR97 (G212 protein‐coupled receptor 97) (Foote et al, ). We performed KEGG enrichment analysis of these PSGs and identified six KEGG pathways that were significantly enriched, which may be related to adaption to the marine environment (Table S17) (Aedo et al, ; Lai et al, ). In addition, we performed branch‐site LRTs for the three orders of marine mammals to identify possible convergent evolution in aquatic mammals.…”

Sound production and sonic apparatus in deep-living cusk-eels (Genypterus chilensis and Genypterus maculatus)

“…Genypterus species are benthic-demersal Ophidiiformes inhabiting the continental shelf and slope in the southern hemisphere at depths between 50 and 800 m (Freijo et al, 2009;Smith and Paulin, 2003;Wiff et al, 2007). Within the genus, Genypterus chilensis (Guichenot, 1848) and Genypterus maculatus (Tschudi, 1846) have been highly exploited for human consumption and are candidates for aquaculture to counterbalance the effects of overfishing (Aedo et al, 2015;Vega et al, 2018Vega et al, , 2012. The Marine Research Center Quintay (CIMARQ, Chile) of Andrés Bellos University was the first aquaculture center to spawn both species in captivity and maintain them for their entire life cycle.…”