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Biomonitoring of the river pufferfish, T akifugu obscurus in aquaculture at different rearing densities using stress‐related genes
Author(s) -
Kim JinHyoung,
Dahms HansUwe,
Han KyungNam
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
aquaculture research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-2109
pISSN - 1355-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2109.2012.03189.x
Subject(s) - biology , aquaculture , hsp70 , zoology , hatching , gene expression , heat shock protein , gene , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , genetics
The river pufferfish T akifugu obscurus is one of the most valuable aquaculture species in S outh K orea and C hina. To analyse the effect of rearing densities in the aquaculture of this species, we performed an experiment where T . obscurus was reared for 3 months after hatching at different initial rearing densities (10 fish L −1 , 20 fish L −1 , and 25 fish L −1 ) which are similar to rearing densities in aquaculture (10–15 fish L −1 ). The growth of the high density group (25 fish L −1 ) was significantly slower than that of the low density group. To determine biomarkers for stress under conditions of high rearing density, we chose six stress‐related genes (heat shock proteins ( HSP s ) 70 and 90β , metallothionein ( MT ), cytochrome P450 1A ( CYP 1A ), glucocorticoid receptor ( GCR ) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase ( PEPCK ) and evaluated their expression by real‐time reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (real‐time RT ‐ PCR ). In the high density group, we observed significant up‐regulation of genes encoding HSP s 70 and 90β , MT , CYP 1A , and PEPCK in liver and brain, but no up‐regulation of the GCR . In particular, expression of HSP 70 , MT and CYP 1A was up‐regulated in a tissue‐specific pattern. Our results demonstrate that growth retardation at high initial rearing densities is associated with stress‐induced gene expression. These findings further indicate that molecular biomarkers can be useful to determine the optimal rearing conditions with respect to densities of pufferfish culture.