Project

Contact: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Tom Goldammer

Duration: 2022-2023

Funding: Leibniz ScienceCampus Phosphorus Research Rostock and German Research Foundation (DFG)

Abstract:

For many organisms cultivated in aquaculture, there is hardly any molecular information on the P balance. There is therefore a lack of valid data for the conservation of P resources in aquaculture by optimising husbandry conditions. Initial analyses as part of a successfully completed master's thesis led to the identification of putative key molecules of P metabolism (Fgf23, Pth1r, Pth2r, Pth3r, Pth4, Stc1, Stc2, Casr, Vdr, Slc34a1, Slc34a2) for the fish species Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and pikeperch Sander lucioperca. As these genes are specific to vertebrates, a second qualification project aimed to identify genes for P transport in the invertebrates mussel Mytilus edulis and black tiger prawn Penaeus monodon. This goal was not achieved because no student was found for the molecular biology work at the FBN outside Rostock. The existing genes for the fish species were therefore further validated. In total, functional primer sets for functional analyses at the gene expression level were generated for 21 genes (zander, 10 genes; Atlantic salmon, 11 genes). The project thus provides an initial basis for analysing the P metabolism with gene expression studies in the two aquaculture species zander and Atlantic salmon. An extension of the search for additional genes involved in P transport in particular is proposed. This will enable future comparative predictions of P metabolism between fish and invertebrates and thus contribute to better modelling of P utilisation in aquaculture of animal organisms.