Few protocols are currently available to drive farmed fish development toward desired phenotypes. This is partially because programming is often achieved through epigenetic mechanisms and interventions have been attempted without information on the epigenetic regulators (EpiRegs) that ultimately transfer the environmental information to the genome. 

EpiTool4Fish will use one of the most important farmed fish (Sparus aurata) in Andalucía and in Europe as model animal to fulfill this knowledge gap, by developing a gene expression array for EpiRegs, and will validate it in two key organs for productive traits: pituitary and liver. Moreover, it will be used to describe variations in EpiRegs through development. It is hypothesized that the use this qPCR array allows a better understanding of the susceptibility of the fish to nutritional and other interventions for reprogramming its epigenome and, ultimately, particular productive traits. Thus, the overall objective of the proposal is to develop and validate a qPCR array for EpiRegs in the gilthead seabream. 

The work-flow will contemplate 1) search EpiRegs in seabream genome, 2) design qPCR primers for selected genes, evaluate them for specificity and efficiency, and design a qPCR array in 96-wells format, 3) validate the qPCR array by conventional qPCR and prove its value in samples already available from our ongoing project (BreamEpiMap), and 4) use the array to describe for the first time the ontogenetic variations in EpiRegs through larval development in seabream. 

The project will make available a new tool for the study of EpiRegs in seabream expanding the reach of previous research, while will support new studies to manage the phenotype through epigenetics in a fish of high economic value for the Andalusian, Spanish, and European aquaculture. Finally, results will promote future national and international collaborations.