Association study between relative expression levels of eight genes and growth rate in Hungarian common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Katalin Balog; Zoltán Bagi; Bianka Tóth; Bettina Hegedűs; Milán Fehér; László Stündl; Szilvia Kusza

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.09.036

Association study between relative expression levels of eight genes and growth rate in Hungarian common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Jan;29(1):630-639. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.09.036. Epub 2021 Sep 20.

Authors

Katalin Balog¹, Zoltán Bagi², Bianka Tóth², Bettina Hegedűs³, Milán Fehér⁴, László Stündl⁵, Szilvia Kusza²

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen Egyetem tér 1., Hungary.
² Centre for Agricultural Genomics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4002 Debrecen, PO. 400., Hungary.
³ Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, 2100 Gödöllő, Páter Károly utca 1, Hungary.
⁴ Laboratory of Aquaculture, Institute of Animal Science, Biotechnology and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen Böszörményi út 138., Hungary.
⁵ Institute of Food Technology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen Böszörményi út 138., Hungary.

Abstract

One of the most important issues in improving the competitiveness of the fish production sector is to improve the growth rate of fish. The genetic background to this trait is at present poorly understood. In this study, we compared the relative gene expression levels of the Akt1s1, FGF, GH, IGF1, MSTN, TLR2, TLR4 and TLR5 genes in blood in groups of common carps (Cyprinus carpio), which belonged to different growth types and phenotypes. Fish were divided into groups based on growth rate (normal group: n = 6; slow group: n = 6) and phenotype (scaled group: n = 6; mirror group: n = 6). In the first 18 weeks, we measured significant differences (p < 0.05) between groups in terms of body weight and body length. Over the next 18 weeks, the fish in the slow group showed more intense development. In the same period, the slow group was characterized by lower expression levels for most genes, whereas GH and IGF1 mRNA levels were higher compared to the normal group. We found that phenotype was not a determining factor in differences of relative expression levels of the genes studied.

Keywords: Common carp (Cyprinus carpio); Growth rate; Phenotypes; Relative gene expression; mRNA.