Abstract
The gut-brain axis plays a major role in multiple metabolic regulation processes, but studies regarding its responses to environmental stress in fish are still limited. In this study, we performed transcriptome sequencing analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) exposed to environments with different water salinity (freshwater: 0 ppt; low-saline water: 3 ppt; brackish water: 6 ppt). According to transcriptome analysis, 707 and 1477 genes were identified as differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between freshwater and brackish water treatments in the brain and gut, respectively. Brain DEGs were significantly enriched into a set of Gene Ontology terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways associated with signal transduction, most of which were downregulated. Gut DEGs were enriched into a neurotransmission-relevant KEGG pathway tryptophan metabolism, and the downregulated DEGs were enriched into the KEGG pathway focal adhesion. ELISA demonstrated significant physiological responses of the brain and gut across treatments, as determined by the concentrations of tight junction protein ZO-2, interleukin 1β, and serotonin. Under hypoosmotic stress, the functions of the gut-brain axis are altered via impairment of intestinal barrier integrity, by disturbance of gut-brain neurotransmission, and through tissue-damaging inflammatory reactions. Our work identified candidate genes which showed significantly differential expression in the gut-brain axis when yellowfin seabream encountered hypoosmotic stress, which could shed lights on the understanding of the potential osmotic regulation mechanisms of the gut-brain axis in teleost.
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Data availability
The transcriptome sequencing data in this study have been uploaded to BioProject (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject) with accession number of PRJNA640946.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 31902427 and No. 32002366]; the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [No. 2020T130734]; the Guangzhou Science and Technology Project [No. 201803020017]; the R&D Project for Jinwan Yellowfin Seabream Breeding System Construction [No. K20-42000–018]; and the Project supported by Innovation Group Project of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) [No. 311020005].
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Genmei Lin, Shizhu Li, Junrou Huang, and Dong Gao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Genmei Lin and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Lin, G., Li, S., Huang, J. et al. Hypoosmotic stress induced functional alternations of intestinal barrier integrity, inflammatory reactions, and neurotransmission along gut-brain axis in the yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus). Fish Physiol Biochem 47, 1725–1738 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-01011-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-01011-x