Sexual maturation of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, is a complicated process that involves many variables that can act to activate and/or inhibit sexual development. Unwanted early onset of sexual maturation of Atlantic salmon is a challenge for the salmon aquaculture industry, as it has negative impacts on growth rate and product quality. Consequently, there has been a significant amount of research aiming to understand the biological mechanisms driving early salmon maturation.
The project is designed to elucidate the earliest triggers which commit animals to sexual maturation using transcriptome and methylome sequencing. The project has two major components. First, animals will be photoperiod manipulated to induce maturation. Tissue samples will be collected before, during and after the initiation event. The second component involves applying next-gen sequencing to obtain genome-wide profiles of gene expression (RNA-Seq) and DNA methylation (WGBS) and open Chromatin (ATAC-Seq). Machine learning will be deployed to predict regulatory elements from the gained accessible regions of the chromatin along with integration of DEGs, DMGs, DMPs into a gene regulatory network to identify key regulators.
This approach has the potential to both identify the genes and gene networks involved, and open new approaches to control the timing of maturation in this important production species.
This work is a joint venture between CSIRO and Tassal.
The project is designed to elucidate the earliest triggers which commit animals to sexual maturation using transcriptome and methylome sequencing. The project has two major components. First, animals will be photoperiod manipulated to induce maturation. Tissue samples will be collected before, during and after the initiation event. The second component involves applying next-gen sequencing to obtain genome-wide profiles of gene expression (RNA-Seq) and DNA methylation (WGBS) and open Chromatin (ATAC-Seq). Machine learning will be deployed to predict regulatory elements from the gained accessible regions of the chromatin along with integration of DEGs, DMGs, DMPs into a gene regulatory network to identify key regulators.
This approach has the potential to both identify the genes and gene networks involved, and open new approaches to control the timing of maturation in this important production species.
This work is a joint venture between CSIRO and Tassal.
