Consequences of high temperatures and premature mortality on the transcriptome and blood physiology of wild adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Ecology and Evolution

Ken M. Jeffries³  Scott G. Hinch³  Thomas Sierocinski¹  Timothy D. Clark⁵  Erika J. Eliason⁴  Michael R. Donaldson³  Shaorong Li²  Paul Pavlidis¹ 

[1] Department of Psychiatry, Centre for High-Throughput Biology, University of British Columbia, 2125 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada;Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Molecular Genetics Section, Pacific Biological Station, 3190 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N7, Canada;Centre for Applied Conservation Research and Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada;Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada;Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia

关键词: Ecological genomics;    Pacific salmon;    premature mortality;    spawning migration;    stress;    temperature;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.274

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Elevated river water temperature in the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada, has been associated with enhanced mortality of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) during their upriver migration to spawning grounds. We undertook a study to assess the effects of elevated water temperatures on the gill transcriptome and blood plasma variables in wild-caught sockeye salmon. Naturally migrating sockeye salmon returning to the Fraser River were collected and held at ecologically relevant temperatures of 14°C and 19°C for seven days, a period representing a significant portion of their upstream migration. After seven days, sockeye salmon held at 19°C stimulated heat shock response genes as well as many genes associated with an immune response when compared with fish held at 14°C. Additionally, fish at 19°C had elevated plasma chloride and lactate, suggestive of a disturbance in osmoregulatory homeostasis and a stress response detectable in the blood plasma. Fish that died prematurely over the course of the holding study were compared with time-matched surviving fish; the former fish were characterized by an upregulation of several transcription factors associated with apoptosis and downregulation of genes involved in immune function and antioxidant activity. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC1) was the most significantly upregulated gene in dying salmon, which suggests an association with cellular apoptosis. We hypothesize that the observed decrease in plasma ions and increases in plasma cortisol that occur in dying fish may be linked to the increase in ODC1. By highlighting these underlying physiological mechanisms, this study enhances our understanding of the processes involved in premature mortality and temperature stress in Pacific salmon during migration to spawning grounds.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC   
© 2011 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.