Submitted on April 8, 2008
Revised on August 15, 2008
Accepted on August 26, 2008
Effect of starvation on the transcriptomes of the brain and liver in adult female zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Robert E Drew1, Kenneth J. Rodnick2, Matthew L Settles1, Jurij Wacyk1, Erin J Churchill1, Madison S. Powell1, Ronald W Hardy1, Gordon K Murdoch1, Rodney A. Hill1, and Barrie D Robison1*
1 University of Idaho
2 Idaho State University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: brobison{at}uidaho.edu.
We used microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses in adult female zebrafish (Danio rerio) to identify metabolic pathways regulated by starvation in the liver and brain. The transcriptome of whole zebrafish brain showed little response to 21 days of starvation. Only agouti-related protein 1 (agrp1) significantly responded, with increased expression in brains of starved fish. In contrast, a 21-day period of starvation significantly down-regulated 466 and up-regulated 108 transcripts in the liver, indicating an overall decrease in metabolic activity, reduced lipid metabolism, protein biosynthesis and proteolysis, and cellular respiration, and increased gluconeogenesis. Starvation also regulated expression of many components of the Unfolded Protein Response, the first such report in a species other than yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and mice (Mus musculus). The response of the zebrafish hepatic transcriptome to starvation was strikingly similar to that of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and less similar to mouse, while the response of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) differed considerably from the other three species.
