Environmental influence on the Atlantic salmon epigenome during sea lice infestation

• Main Author: Trigg, Shelly A.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2019
• Subjects: 60404 Epigenetics incl. Genome Methylation and Epigenomics; FOS Biological sciences; Marine Biology; Immunology; FOS Clinical medicine; 60307 Host-Parasite Interactions; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.10882775; https://figshare.com/articles/Environmental_influence_on_the_Atlantic_salmon_epigenome_during_sea_lice_infestation/10882775

**Title:** Environmental influence on the Atlantic salmon epigenome during sea lice infestation **Meeting information:** 4th International Conference on Integrative Salmonid Biology Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland November 17-20, 2019 **Session information:** Session 7: Immunology, disease and host-pathogen interactions Wednesday, November 20 16:00 PM - 17:00 PM **Bio:** Shelly Trigg is a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington in the lab of Steven Roberts. Dr. Trigg received her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of California San Diego in 2018. Her main research interest is the response of aquatic species to environmental change with a focus on molecular networks and physiology. **Abstract:** Wild and farmed salmon are impacted by sea lice infestations leading to skin lesions, increased susceptibility to microbial pathogens, and up to a 10% loss in aquaculture production value. Particularly in Chile, farmed Atlantic salmon become infested by C. rogercresseyi. It is known that warmer temperatures can increase the sea lice generation time, and that higher salinity tends to lead to optimal development while lower salinity can impair larval development Towards developing improved methods for sea lice remediation, the molecular response of the salmon needs to be further understood. We performed a two-factor experiment to investigate how salinity and temperature influence host gene regulation during sea lice infection looking for DNA methylation signatures in the skin after 30 days of infestation. Differentially methylated regions among experimental and control groups indicate an epigenetic gene regulatory response driven by sea lice infestation and environment. These results provide insight into regulatory regions sensitive to methylation modification that underlie immune response to environment-specific sea lice infestation, and add clarity to genomic areas of vulnerability.