Baseline Gene Expression Levels in Falkland-Malvinas Island Penguins: Towards a New Monitoring Paradigm.

Lizabeth Bowen,Randi Meyerson,Sarah Woodhouse,Jeffrey L Stott,Shannon Waters,Ann Duncan

doi:10.3390/life12020258

Lizabeth Bowen, Randi Meyerson + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/life12020258

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Abstract

Health diagnostics of wildlife have historically relied on the evaluation of select serum biomarkers and the identification of a contaminant or pathogen burden within specific tissues as an indicator of a level of insult. However, these approaches fail to measure the physiological reaction of the individual to stressors, thus limiting the scope of interpretation. Gene-based health diagnostics provide an opportunity for an alternate, whole-system, or holistic assessment of health, not only in individuals or populations but potentially in ecosystems. Seabirds are among the most threatened marine taxonomic groups in the world, with ~25% of this species currently listed as threatened or considered of special concern; among seabirds, the penguins (Family Spheniscidae) are the most threatened seabird Family. We used gene expression to develop baseline physiological indices for wild penguins in the Falkland-Malvinas Islands, and captive zoo penguins. We identified the almost complete statistical separation of penguin groups (gentoo Detroit Zoo, gentoo Falkland-Malvinas Islands, rockhopper Detroit Zoo, and rockhopper Falkland-Malvinas Islands) based on gene expression profiles. Implementation of long-term longitudinal studies would allow for the assessment of temporal increases or decreases of select transcripts and would facilitate interpretation of the drivers of change.

Highlights

Traditional evaluation of the health status of wildlife is based on a combination of the animal’s history, physical examination, and clinical pathology data
Peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6), Thyroid hormone receptor alpha (THRa), and Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), and higher in rockhopper penguins for Interferon Induced Protein With Tetratricopeptide Repeats 5 (IFIT5) (Table 3). The shortcomings of these analyses are evidenced by the small sample sizes the in shortcomings of thesewere analyses are evidenced by the small sample sizes and brief timeframe which the animals sampled, the methodology we developed and brief timeframe in which the animals were sampled, the methodology we developed and applied to penguins in the Falkland-Malvinas Islands is a baseline to which future and applied to penguins in the Islands is a baseline to which future measurements can be compared, and subtle yet significant alterations in physiological measurements can be compared, and subtle yet significant alterations in physiologistatus can be identified in real time, prior to catastrophic events
We identified near complete statistical separation of penguin groups based on gene expression profiles

Summary

Introduction

Traditional evaluation of the health status of wildlife is based on a combination of the animal’s history (e.g., movement, reproductive status), physical examination, and clinical pathology data. The exact cause of most species declines is unknown, declines are likely associated with multiple and potentially synergistic environmental stressors. Large-scale investigations into populations and ecosystems have been driven by species declines and/or mortality events. By the time these events are observed, ample time has elapsed in systems already operating sub-optimally for additional conditions to manifest, preventing clear insight into the causal factors. Using a proactive approach of baseline and long-term monitoring to continually assess populations for subtle yet significant changes would provide baseline data sets upon which perturbations in real time could be assessed

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