The influences of parental diet and vitamin E intake on the embryonic zebrafish transcriptome

Abstract

The composition of the typical commercial diet fed to zebrafish can dramatically vary. By utilizing defined diets we sought to answer two questions: 1) How does the embryonic zebrafish transcriptome change when the parental adults are fed a commercial lab diet compared with a sufficient, defined diet (E+)? 2) Does a vitamin Edeficient parental diet (E−) further change the embryonic transcriptome? We conducted a global gene expression study using embryos from zebrafish fed a commercial (Lab), an E+ or an E− diet. To capture differentially expressed transcripts prior to onset of overt malformations observed in E− embryos at 48 h post-fertilization (hpf), embryos were collected from each group at 36 hpf. Lab embryos differentially expressed (p < 0.01) 946 transcripts compared with the E+ embryos, and 2656 transcripts compared with the E− embryos. The differences in protein, fat and micronutrient intakes in zebrafish fed the Lab compared with the E + diet demonstrate that despite overt morphologic consistency, significant differences in gene expression occurred. Moreover, functional analysis of the significant transcripts in the E−embryos suggested perturbed energy metabolism, leading to overt malformations and mortality. Thus, these findings demonstrate that parental zebrafish diet has a direct impact on the embryonic transcriptome.

High-throughput characterization of chemical-associated embryonic behavioral changes predicts teratogenic outcomes

“…Importantly, with such a noninvasive, automated endpoint, perturbations of AOP-associated molecular targets could be assessed through morpholino knockdown and/or RNA rescue (Andreasen et al 2006 ; Franzosa et al 2013 ; Miller et al 2014 ; Reimers et al 2006 ; Tilton et al 2006 ; Tilton and Tanguay 2008 ). The scale of the results presented here, using an experimental design including high numbers of biological well-replicates, permits powerful enrichment analysis to confirm such molecular targets.…”

Influence of Commercial and Laboratory Diets on Growth, Body Composition, and Reproduction in the Zebrafish Danio rerio

“…11 As observed in mammals, specific nutrients and dietary ingredients, or the lack thereof, can potentially alter physiology, behavior, and/or molecular pathways in zebrafish, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] whereas other researches suggested that nutrient content of diets fed to adult zebrafish can even influence the development and health of their offspring. [26][27][28][29][30][31] All these evidences suggest that for zebrafish, diet is an important environmental factor that can potentially compromise and confound outcomes related to the question of study; Therefore, a lack of nutritional control in zebrafish laboratories could affect the interpretation of both past and future research. 32 At present, a wide variety of commercial diets is utilized in zebrafish research laboratories, and in some cases, include live animal supplementation (paramecia, rotifers, and brine shrimp) during early or other life stages.…”

A method for collecting eggs of Pseudocapillaria tomentosa (Nematoda: Capillariidae) from zebrafish Danio rerio and efficacy of heat and chlorine for killing the nematode's eggs

“…Nematode eggs for this study were obtained from 60 previously exposed zebrafish kept in a in a 70-L aquarium, with constant water flow and aeration, fed approximately 2% of body weight per day with powdered mixed diet used previously at the SARL (Miller et al 2014). Fish were infected by co-habitation with parasitized fish.…”