Acronym MATUREWEL
Category
Marine Biotechnology
Title Welfare gains based on revealing molecular roles of Vgll3a in salmon puberty Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Erik Kjærner-Semb Coordinator email erikkj@hi.no
Coordinator institution
IMR - Institute of Marine Research (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA - Not available (Netherlands) ,
Start year 2021 End year 2024 Funding (€) € 800,000 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/en/project/FORISS/324890?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=90&Soknad=Forskerprosjekt Summary This project will elucidate the roles of Vgll3a in controlling timing of puberty in Atlantic salmon. In Atlantic salmon, time at maturity is a trait controlled to a large extent by a major effect locus with SNPs near or within vgll3a on chromosome 25, having alleles causing early (E) and late (L) onset of puberty. The function of Vgll3a is not well characterized in animals, however, the Vgll3 protein is associated with the Hippo signaling pathway, which is involved in controlling proliferation in various tissues, including gonads. Previous investigations have characterized cellular localization and gene regulation of vgll3 in male and female salmon gonads, and examined the possible connection to the Hippo pathway. In addition, we have identified genes in salmon pituitary and gonad tissues which are differentially regulated depending on vgll3a genotype. The mechanisms by which Vgll3a elicits its effects on maturation are currently unknown. However, we have results from pituitary and testis tissue culture experiments pointing to a mechanism mediated through the vgll3a L allele, involving secretion of one or more unidentified endocrine factors with the ability to inhibit pubertal activation in the pituitary. To elucidate the mechanisms by which Vgll3a modulates the pubertal timing, we aim to identify proteins interacting with Vgll3a, and identify downstream target genes, using gene-edited vgll3a knockout salmon lines as a model in combination with tissue and cell culture experiments. Using these approaches will also allow experiments to identify the currently unknown endocrine signaling responsible for inhibiting the onset of puberty in LL animals, potentially useful as biomarkers for late maturation, which will contribute to more precise breeding protocols for late maturation in salmon.
Keywords
Fish;
Engineering;
Salmon;
Genetic;
Fish biology;
Genomic sequencing;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
Marine Region Map
