Examples on fisheries and aquaculture management and on climate change assessments in benthic and ichthyic communities.
- Language: English
- Link: Conecta-CSIC
Summary
“Put epigenetics into your [scientific] life”. This could well summarize the primary objective of this talk: to try to convince marine biologists of all kinds of the advantages that the emerging new discipline of marine epigenetics offers to address a set of timely research topics. It should therefore not come as a surprise the fact that many marine labs are becoming interested in epigenetics. Thus, for example, the vision and mission of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn has, as one of its research priorities for the years 2015-2025, the integration of epigenetics and ecology to study biological evolution. Epigenetics can be defined as the study of changes in gene expression that are independent on the underlying nucleotide sequence. In the talk, first the basic epigenetic mechanisms will be briefly discussed and then the attention will be placed on how epigenetics can aid in the conservation of renewable marine resources, with specific examples including the development of markers for sex prediction in aquaculture and fish age estimation for fisheries management. Since epigenetics allows organisms to integrate genomic and environmental information, it facilitates phenotypic variation through genotype–environment interactions. Thus, epigenetics is increasingly being recognized as a powerful molecular engine triggering rapid adaptive phenotypic responses to global change. Hence, emerging insights in marine environmental epigenetics can be applied to critical issues such as biomonitoring, harmful algal blooms and biological invasions. The first International Conference on Epigenetics in Marine Biology was held in September 2020 and based on the presentation one could say that this discipline has a bright future. Lots of initiatives are going in epigenetics in microalgae, corals and mollusks and some examples will also be presented.
Brief biography
Francesc Piferrer graduated in Biology (UB, 1982) and took the first MSc in Aquaculture in Spain (1984-1985). He did his doctoral research at the Center for Biotechnology and Genetics in Aquaculture, Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (1985–1988) on sexual differentiation in salmon and, after two years at the CSIC’s Institute of Aquaculture (IATS), got his PhD from the UB in 1990. The postdoctoral training was at the Dept. of Biology, Boston University (1991–1992) and at the Dept. of Reproductive Medicine, University of California, San Diego (1993–1994), working on growth factors in gonadogenesis. In 1994 he obtained a permanent position at the CSIC and, after three years at the IATS, in 1997 joined the ICM and established the Group of Biology of Reproduction (GBR). With formal training in zoology and physiology, for 20 years he worked on the endocrinology of fish sex differentiation, significantly contributing to elucidate the role of estrogens in ovarian development. He also significantly contributed to the development of techniques for sex and maturity control in fish farming based on chromosome set manipulations. In the last 15 years, he has used epigenetics as a tool to address different topics, mainly the interplay between genetic and environmental influences on sexual development. Currently, he is interested in epigenetic mechanisms operating during early development that regulate genes important for key production traits, pioneering the incorporation of epigenetics into aquaculture, but also on organismal responses to climate change. Some of his contributions touch upon basic aspects (discovery of a new form of sexual plasticity in fish, role of DNA methylation of the first intron in gene expression regulation, epimutations in the initial stages of animal domestication); some represent a world première (first sex predictor, first piscine epigenetic clock); and some are of a practical nature that have had translational applications in the form of patents.
Figure: Epigenetics in Ecology and Evolution