Potential of the hepatic transcriptome expression profile of the striped seabream (Lithognathus mormyrus) as an environmental biomarker

Abstract

The potential of the hepatic transcriptome expression profile evaluated in a sentinel feral fish to serve as an environmental biomarker was examined. Expression profiles of Lithognathus mormyrus individuals were exhibited using cDNA microarray and were related to the set of exposure conditions at their sites and dates of collection. Expression profiles of individual fish were reasonably clustered according to the fish samples. In addition, several sample-specific gene clusters were determined, designated sample gene signatures. The selection procedure for future optimal reference RNA is discussed. The relationship between transcriptome expression and fish samples indicated a potential for using the former as an environmental biomarker.

Keywords::

• Aquatic organisms
• environmental pollution/ecotoxicology
• gene expression
• biomonitoring
• fish
• cDNA microarray

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Miriam Kott-Gutkowski from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for provision of slide-related services.

Declaration of interest

The study was supported by the EU projects GENIPOL (EVK3-CT-2001-00057), MARINEGENOMICS EUROPE (Contract 505403) and the Slovenian–Israeli research cooperation in Biotechnology (contract 3-3460). M. A. was a recipient of the Yohai Ben-Nun and Rieger scholarships. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.