Relating Telomerase Expression to Fish Growth

Description

In vitro studies in mammals have shown that telomerase expression controls cell proliferation and is positively correlated with growth rate. Indeterminate growing fish also exhibit considerable telomerase in muscle. However, no study has been carried out to relate muscle telomerase activity to cell proliferation and in vivo growth in fish. The functional role and significance of telomerase in fish is completely unknown. This study aims to investigate the relationship between levels of muscle telomerase and in vivo muscle cell proliferation in common carp, with the view to elucidating the functional role(s) of telomerase in fish growth. The researchers propose to expose fish to hypoxia (a widespread environmental stress that is known to retard growth in common carp) to investigate whether telomerase in muscle will also be affected. Results of this study will enable the researchers to understand the relationship between telomerase, cell proliferation and growth in whole fish in vivo. On the practical side, if a good quantitative relationship is revealed between telomerase and the Darwinian fitness trait (growth), then this will open the possibility of using telomerase suppression as a novel and meaningful molecular biomarker for the early detection of growth impairment in fish.