Uren Webster, T. M. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2018

Contrasting effects of acute and chronic stress on the transcriptome, epigenome, and immune response of Atlantic salmon

Early-life stress can have long-lasting effects on immunity, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. We examined the effects of acute stress (cold-shock during embryogenesis) and chronic stress (absence of tank enrichment during larval-stage) on the gill transcriptome and methylome of Atlantic salmon four months after hatching. While only chronic stress induced pronounced transcriptional effects, both acute and chronic stress caused lasting, and contrasting, changes in the methylome. Crucially, we found that acute stress enhanced immune response to a pathogenic challenge (lipopolysaccharide), while chronic stress suppressed it. We identified stress-induced changes in promoter or gene-body methylation that were associated with altered expression for a small proportion of genes, and also evidence of wider epigenetic regulation within signalling pathways involved in immune response. Our study suggests that early-life stress can affect immuno-competence through epigenetic mechanisms, a finding that could open the way for improved stress and disease management of farmed fish.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2018

Inter-population variation in the Atlantic salmon microbiome reflects environmental and genetic diversity

Microbial communities have a crucial influence on host phenotype, and are of broad interest to ecological and evolutionary research. Yet, the extent of variation that occurs in the microbiome within and between populations is unclear. We characterised the skin and gut microbiome of seven populations of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) inhabiting a diverse range of environments, including hatchery-reared and wild populations. We found shared skin OTUs across all populations and core gut microbiota for all wild fish, but the diversity and structure of both skin and gut microbial communities were distinct between populations. There was a marked difference between the gut microbiome of wild and captive fish. Hatchery-reared fish had lower intestinal microbial diversity, lacked core microbiota found in wild fish, and showed altered community structure and function. Captive fish skin and gut microbiomes were also less variable within populations, reflecting more uniform artificial rearing conditions. Surrounding water influenced the microbiome of the gut and, especially, the skin, but could not explain the degree of variation observed between populations. For both the gut and the skin, we found that there was greater difference in microbial community structure between more genetically distinct fish populations, and also that population genetic diversity was positively correlated with microbiome diversity. However, dietary differences are likely to be the major factor contributing to the large differences found in the gut microbiome between wild and captive fish. Our results highlight the scope of inter-population variation in the microbiome, and offer insights into the contributing deterministic factors.

ecology↗