We focus on the intrinsic and environmental influences on fish reproduction
The Group of Biology of Reproduction (GBR), established in 1997, is a dynamic and consolidated research group at ICM’s Dept. of Renewable Marine Resources in which the primary focus is on different aspects of fish reproduction. The specific objectives are: a) the study of the internal (genotype, physiological condition, age) and environmental (temperature, stress, pathogens) influences on the molecular mechanisms responsible for sexual development; b) the study of the interactions between the immune and reproductive systems; c) the development of markers indicative of exposure to abnormal environmental conditions, sex, age, stress response and health in fish, d) the development, in close cooperation with the private sector, of protocols for the control of reproduction in aquaculture; and e) the study of the evolution of different reproductive strategies in fishes of economic importance. To achieve these objectives, we use a wide of range of methods that include experiments in aquaria under controlled conditions, physiology, molecular, genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches, as well as phylogenetic comparative methods. The species we typically focus on are relevant for fish farming: European sea bass, turbot and Senegalese sole. The zebrafish is used as a model, and we have an extensive database on phylogenetic, ecological, life-history and reproductive-related aspects that covers thousands of fish species used to address evolutionary questions on sexual pattern evolution. The above-mentioned objectives are of great interest for the CSIC’s Agronomic Sciences and Natural Resources areas. The emphasis on epigenetic regulatory mechanisms is key to understand how the phenotype develops from genomic and environmental information, particularly in a context of global change. Understanding how reproduction is regulated is essential if we aim to bring it under our control in aquaculture. Finally, understanding reproductive variability is also important for conservation biology.