IDENTIFICATION OF STRESS-RELATED MOLECULAR BIOMARKERS IN ZEBRAFISH: AN IN-SILICO APPROACH

Stress in fish has recently become a major concern in aquaculture which causes a substantial amount of economic loss. Monitoring risk factors in a routine manner and preventing stress-related problems can save this loss. Meta-analysis gives a successful way for high-throughput screening of stressors in fish habitats by firmly exploiting molecular biomarkers. Previously reported meta-analysis revealed 'Top-21 proteins' that are frequently related to stress-induced proteome profiles. We performed a further computational analysis on specific functional categorization, protein-protein interaction network and co-expression profiles for these 'Top-21 proteins' in search of more consistent and robust molecular biomarkers. The analysis identified functional class specific molecular biomarkers: for heat shock proteins the proposed biomarkers are hsp90b1, hsp90ab1, hspa5, hspa8,hspa9, and ptges3a; for cytoskeletal proteins the proposed biomarkers are actb1, myhz2 and zgc:55461, rac1, tuba1/2, tuba1, and zgc:136799; for keratin proteins the proposed biomarkers are Krt 4, Krt5, krt23, krt17, sc:d0144, cldnb, icn2, and pkp3; and for oxidative damage defense proteins the proposed biomarkers are txn, prdx5, adh2a and prdx2. Once validated, these predicted molecular biomarkers can be considered potential candidates for identifying the stressors present in fish habitats since the biomarkers are important for stress modulation. In addition, the reported proteins can also be applied as stress regulators in fish.