Identification of a responsive gene set to evaluate the potential impact of seismic exposure on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) inner ear
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ABSTRACT: Considerable interest and controversy has arisen over the potential effects of seismic surveys carried out during exploration for oil and gas deposits. Regarding fish, there is a concern that intense sound sources, such as seismic airguns, may injure their auditory system. In this study, salmonid cDNA microarrays and quantitative reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) were used to identify and study a responsive gene set in the inner ear of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) following seismic airgun exposure. Microarray analyses on pooled seismic exposed inner ear RNA versus pooled control inner ear RNA revealed 79 unique transcripts (passing background threshold) that were greater than 1.75-fold differentially-regulated by acoustic stress on at least 3 of the 4 slides in the study (including at least one dye-swap). QPCR analyses of 8 microarray-identified transcripts of interest revealed a significant up-regulation (P<0.05) of transcripts encoding nicotinamide riboside kinase 2 (1.89-fold) and hemoglobin subunit alpha-4 (3.78-fold), and a significant down-regulation (P<0.05) of a transcript encoding C14orf159 protein (1.35-fold). QPCR analyses also confirmed an overall up-regulation of transcripts encoding growth hormone I (7.78-fold), c-type lectin receptor A (2.20-fold) and retinol binding protein I (1.24-fold), however these differences were not considered to be statistically significant (P<0.05) due to the high biological variability in the seismic exposed group for these transcripts of interest. Initial results demonstrate that genomics has the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of the impact of seismic airguns on gene and molecular pathways involved in hearing, and provide valuable molecular biomarkers that can act as an early warning sensor to acoustic stress.
ORGANISM(S): Osmerus mordax Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Salmo salar Oncorhynchus mykiss Coregonus clupeaformis
PROVIDER: GSE33257 | GEO | 2012/02/28
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA149043
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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