Project description:Transcriptomic analysis of short-term 17α-ethynylestradiol exposure in two Californian sentinel fish species sardine (Sardinops sagax) and mackerel (Scomber japonicus)
Project description:Pacific sardine Sardinops sagax (Jenyns, 1842), a sardine species that widely distributes in Pacific, is an important commercial species in many areas. In this study, we characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of S. sagax using next generation sequencing technology. The complete mitogenome of S. sagax was 16,883 base pairs (bp) in length and comprised 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA), and one control region (D-loop). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that sardine species included three clades (I, II and III) and S. sagax clustered with Sardinops melanostictus.
Project description:The monitoring of marine species as sentinels for ecosystem health has long been a valuable tool worldwide, providing insight into how both anthropogenic pollution and naturally occurring phenomena (i.e., harmful algal blooms) may lead to human and animal dietary concerns. The marine environments contain many contaminants of anthropogenic origin that have sufficient similarities to steroid and thyroid hormones, to potentially disrupt normal endocrine physiology in humans, fish, and other animals. An appropriate understanding of the effects of these endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on forage fish (e.g., sardine, anchovy, mackerel) can lead to significant insight into how these contaminants may affect local ecosystems in addition to their potential impacts on human health. With advancements in molecular tools (e.g., high-throughput sequencing, HTS), a genomics approach offers a robust toolkit to discover putative genetic biomarkers in fish exposed to these chemicals. However, the lack of available sequence information for non-model species has limited the development of these genomic toolkits. Using HTS and de novo assembly technology, the present study aimed to establish, for the first time for Sardinops sagax (Pacific sardine), Scomber japonicas (Pacific chub mackerel) and Pleuronichthys verticalis (hornyhead turbot), a de novo global transcriptome database of the liver, the primary organ involved in detoxification. The assembled transcriptomes provide a foundation for further downstream validation, comparative genomic analysis and biomarker development for future applications in ecotoxicogenomic studies, as well as environmental evaluation (e.g., climate change) and public health safety (e.g., dietary screening).
