Development of epigenetic biomarkers for aquaculture

Trabajo final presentado por Emmanouil Diakos para el Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Aquaculture, Environment and Society Plus, realizado bajo la dirección del Dr. Francesc Piferrer y la Dra Núria Sánchez Baizán del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) y del Dr. Michael Pavlidis de la University of Crete.-- 63 pages, 8 figures, 2 tablesEpigenetics can be regarded as “the study of phenomena and mechanisms that cause chromosome-bound, heritable changes to gene expression that are not dependent on changes to DNA sequence. Epigenetics then deals with gene regulatory events that can be inherited mitotically through cell proliferation, and meiotically from parents to offspring, that may also underly the emergence of new phenotypes. DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNAs are the three main epigenetic mechanisms implicated in the regulation of gene expression in animals and plants. The epigenetic modifications have been studied broadly as they play regulatory roles in gene expression or suppression, and, consequently, in the formation of the phenotype, in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature, stress, and nutrition, as well as due to their implications in cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and other diseases. DNA methylation is considered to be the most studied epigenetic modification in mammals and fish. This epigenetic mark has been used in the development of biomarkers, as it is characterized by its stability and ease of measurement through a wide range of methods that are constantly developed. Thus, scientific research is focusing on the development of biomarkers based on epigenetic changes that could be useful tools for disease treatment, prediction of traits of economic importance in aquaculture, but also in the fields of ecology and evolution. Recent epigenetic changes observed in fish can pave the way for their incorporation in the development of biomarkers valuable for aquaculture, exploring the genotype to phenotype ‘gap’ and contribute to the sustainability of the secto