2023-08-10 13:53:33
Shark spending small spots – WIKIPEDIA
MADRID, 10 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A study of four species of fish by scientists at the Manchester University reveals that gene expression changes when their developing embryos are exposed to warmer water.
Analysis of the smallspotted catshark, zebrafish, European bass, and three-spined stickleback is published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
Although scientists already know that the warming of our rivers and oceans causes direct physiological stress to fish, this study shows that the impact on their developing embryos it has a profound effect on their gene expression patterns as adults.
These changes can also affect your ability to respond to future changes in temperature, which that will have consequences for surviving climate change in their adult life.
Scientists have been unable to find consistent differentially expressed genes involved in biological changes related to global warming.
However, the University of Manchester analysis suggests that different phenotypes identified in later life may occur through changes in the organization of the transcriptome, the genetic code as it is read, a crucial element of life itself.
Their findings, using sophisticated modeling, show that developmentally heated fish transcriptomes are characterized by increased disorder in the way genes interact, which implies a less structured and more “random” set of genetic interactions.
Professor Holly Shiels, from the University of Manchester, said: “Climate change is a major threat facing animals. As the world’s oceans and rivers continue to warm, the physiological and population stress placed on fish will continue to grow.” .
“If we are going to predict and mitigate the consequences of global warming, it is crucial that we understand how it influences an animal’s biological capacity. to respond to future environmental challenges.
Dr Dan Ripley, from the University of Manchester, said: “Our findings suggest that exposure to elevated temperatures during the development and growth of an embryo can influence the ability of fish to respond to future challenges they face in later life“.
Dr Adam Stevens, from the University of Manchester, added: “In our study, we found that developmental warming influenced the relationships between genes. It changed the ‘pipeline’ of the system, with knock-on consequences for how it works then.” into adulthood. This was absent in animals reared under ‘control’ conditions.”
Embryos were maintained in control conditions, which represented daily temperatures, or in warmer treatment conditions, representing future conditions under climate change.
After embryogenesis, all fish were moved to control conditions, simulating that adult fish in the wild move to find areas at their preferred temperature.
Despite living in their preferred temperature range as adults, genomic differences were found between the groups related to the temperatures they experienced as embryos.
These differences were associated with an altered ability to respond to future warming in adulthood.
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