Effects of domestication and GH transgenesis on mRNA profiles in rainbow trout

Growth rate can be genetically modified in many vertebrates by domestication and selection, and more recently by transgenesis overexpressing growth factor genes (e.g. growth hormone, GH). While the phenotypic end consequence is similar, it is currently not clear whether the same modifications to physiological pathways are occurring in both genetic processes, nor to what extent they may interact when combined. To examine these questions, we have used rainbow trout as a model species because non-domesticated wild strains are available as comparators to assess genetic and physiological changes that have arisen from domestication and from GH transgenesis. In addition to pure wild and pure domesticated strains, two different GH transgenes with markedly different growth effects were examined, both in a wild background and in hybrids which combined domesticated and wild genomes in addition to the transgene. We find that liver mRNAs show highly concordant changes in levels in both types of fast-growing fish, relative to wild type, for both up- and down-regulated genes. Further, among domesticated, transgenic, and their hybrid genotypes, a strong positive correlation was found between growth rate and the number of genes affected or their levels of mRNA. Functional analysis found that genes involved in immune function, carbohydrate metabolism, detoxification, transcription regulation, growth regulation, and lipid metabolism were affected in common by domestication and GH transgenesis. The common responses of domesticated and GH transgenic strains is consistent with the GH pathway or its downstream effects being upregulated in domesticated animals during their modification from wild-type growth rates. Microarray analyses were performed on five individual rainbow trout per group of pure wild, pure domesticated, GH transgenic strain 1 in wild, GH transgenic strain 2 in wild, GH transgenic strain 1 in wild-domestic hybrid, and GH transgenic strain 2 in wild-domestic hybrid hybridized (one slide per individual) against a common wild-type RNA pool.