Meeting Abstract
Prickleback fishes (Family Stichaeidae) are a unique study system in which to investigate dietary specialization because they consist of closely related species that coexist in rocky intertidal habitats, yet vary in diet. Dietary habits affect the utilization of various metabolic pathways and the liver is central to many metabolic processes. Thus, my goal is to examine whether there are dietary-related metabolic differences between prickleback fishes by investigating metabolic rate and liver metabolic pathways in different species with different diets, and how flexible these pathways are in response to dietary changes. We studied four species that naturally vary in diet: Xiphister mucosus (herbivore), Xiphister atropurpureus (omnivore), Phytichthys chirus (omnivore), and Anoplarchus purpurescens (carnivore). We assigned individuals of X. mucosus and A. purpurescens to omnivore or carnivore diets in the laboratory, whereas X. atropurpureus and P. chirus individuals were fed the carnivore diet. In lab-fed fishes, the metabolic rate did not vary among the species, nor were any dietary-induced intra-specific differences in metabolic rates detected. The transcriptomic profiles of the liver tissues of wild-caught and lab-fed individuals were examined using Illumina platforms. We performed genome-driven transcriptomic assemblies with the prickleback Cebidichthys violaceus genome as the reference. Coverages of 15-21 million reads per sample were achieved and analyses of differential expression of genes involved in metabolic pathways are underway. Overall, this study will provide insight into the relationship between energy metabolism and diet in vertebrates, and how flexible these systems may be in the face of dietary shifts.
