Abstract
Yellow mutant rainbow trout (YR), an economically important aquaculture species, is popular among consumers due to its excellent meat quality and attractive appearance. Skin color is a key economic trait for YR, but little is known about the molecular mechanism of skin color development. In this study, YR skin transcriptomes were analyzed to explore temporal expression patterns of pigmentation-related genes in three different stages of skin color development. In total, 16,590, 16,682, and 5619 genes were differentially expressed between fish at 1 day post-hatching (YR1d) and YR45d, YR1d and YR90d, and YR45d and YR90d. Numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with pigmentation were identified, and almost all of them involved in pteridine and carotenoid synthesis were significantly upregulated in YR45d and YR90d compared to YR1d, including GCH1, PTS, QDPR, CSFIR1, SLC2A11, SCARB1, DGAT2, PNPLA2, APOD, and BCO2. Interestingly, many DEGs enriched in melanin synthesis pathways were also significantly upregulated, including melanogenesis (MITF, MC1R, SLC45A2, OCA2, and GPR143), tyrosine metabolism (TYR, TYRP1, and DCT), and MAPK signaling (KITA) pathways. Using short time-series expression miner, we identified eight differential gene expression pattern profiles, and DEGs in profile 7 were associated with skin pigmentation. Protein–protein interaction network analysis showed that two modules were related to xanthophores and melanophores. In addition, 1,812,329 simple sequence repeats and 2,011,334 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were discovered. The results enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying skin pigmentation in YR, and could accelerate the molecular breeding of fish species with valuable skin color traits and will likely be highly informative for developing new therapeutic approaches to treat pigmentation disorders and melanoma.
Highlights
Yellow mutant rainbow trout (YR), an economically important aquaculture species, is popular among consumers due to its excellent meat quality and attractive appearance
The field of vertebrate pigmentation has benefited greatly from model fish species including zebrafish (Danio rerio) and medaka (Oryzias latipes); genes including those in the tyrosinase gene family (TYR, TYRP1, and DCT), microphtalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1), solute carrier family 2 member 11 (SLC2A11), solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11), SRY-box 5 (SOX5), and colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor 1 (CSF1R1) are involved in melanogenesis and pteridine synthesis pathways, and they have been well s tudied[8,9,10]
It is reported to be involved in the process of melanogenesis by acting as an essential electron donor in phenylalanine hydroxylase-catalyzed conversion of l-phenylalanine into l-tyrosine, and for tyrosine hydroxylase isoform I-catalyzed generation of l-dihydroxyphenylalanine from l-tyrosine, the role of H4biopterin in pteridine pigment synthesis in fish has been more extentively studied to d ate[18,19,20]
Summary
Yellow mutant rainbow trout (YR), an economically important aquaculture species, is popular among consumers due to its excellent meat quality and attractive appearance. YR skin transcriptomes were analyzed to explore temporal expression patterns of pigmentation-related genes in three different stages of skin color development. The results enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying skin pigmentation in YR, and could accelerate the molecular breeding of fish species with valuable skin color traits and will likely be highly informative for developing new therapeutic approaches to treat pigmentation disorders and melanoma. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has proven to be a valuable tool for exploring gene and pathway responses, including the molecular mechanism of skin color variation in non-model fish species. The results deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying pigmentation in YR, and could accelerate the molecular breeding of fish species with valuable skin color traits and will likely be highly informative for developing new therapeutic approaches to treat pigmentation disorders and melanoma
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