Testing of NKA expression by mobile real time PCR is an efficient indicator of smoltification status of farmed Atlantic salmon
Assessment of seawater readiness of freshwater salmon smolts is a crucial husbandry step with economic implications in salmon aquaculture but current methods rely on delayed centralised enzymic activity measurement. The efficiency of a qRT-PCR assay for sodium potassium ATPase (NKA) α1a mRNA was tes...
Published in: | Aquaculture |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier BV
2021
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/32963 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737085 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/32963/1/1-s2.0-S0044848621007481-main.pdf |
Summary: | Assessment of seawater readiness of freshwater salmon smolts is a crucial husbandry step with economic implications in salmon aquaculture but current methods rely on delayed centralised enzymic activity measurement. The efficiency of a qRT-PCR assay for sodium potassium ATPase (NKA) α1a mRNA was tested in a 3-year study on 19 hatcheries across Scotland incorporating environmental factors such as temperature and metal contamination. The NKA qRT-PCR assay was transferred to a mobile laboratory and on-site testing was carried out at 3 hatchery sites. For the first two years standard enzymatic and gene expression assays had similar success rates in detecting smoltification (NKA activity 60%, qRT-PCR 57%). In the third year, all but one site were determined as sea water ready by qRT-PCR but only at 4 by enzymatic testing. On site testing with mobile qRT-PCR was successfully performed on four farm sites. Altogether, high sensitivity was shown for the in lab (98.9%, SE 0.24) and mobile (93.43%, SE 0.119) assays when tested using a quantitative RNA standard. Some indication for obscured smoltification assay results due to environmental increased heavy metal contamination was observed. Our results prove it is possible to test a smoltification marker on site and provide results on the day of testing during the smolt period allowing for informed decisions on seawater transfer. |
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