Meeting Abstract
Rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, have an impressive ability to acclimate to very cold water. These fish express both anti-freeze proteins and glycerol in their plasma, liver, muscle and other tissues to avoid freezing at sub-zero temperatures. Muscle contractile properties in smelt are also dramatically affected by cold exposure – cold-acclimated fish have faster contractile properties of both red and white muscle and are capable of faster swimming speeds. We used RNA-Seq and qPCR to examine gene expression in smelt muscle to determine the genes responsible for the thermal acclimation response in these fish. A pilot transcriptome analysis indicates substantial differences in gene expression between red and white muscle fiber type and between cold and warm acclimated fish. qPCR confirms differences in the expression of genes associated with both metabolic and muscle function and thermal acclimation. Data will be presented on recent RNA-Seq experiments.
