Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 24 September 2010, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Sharon E Hook
CSIRO Land and Water
Lucas Heights, NSW

Are microarray studies relevant to ecotoxicology? Toxicogenomic profiling in Rainbow Trout Oncorhyncus mykiss

Microarrays have great promise for ecotoxicology because they are more sensitive than traditional toxicological endpoints, enable biomarker discovery and predict mode of action. Our recent work has focused on the potential uses of microarrays in measuring pollutant response in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Our initial experiments demonstrated that the gene expression profiles from contaminant exposed fish were unique and predictive of mode of action. In a separate experiment, fish were exposed to a mixture of toxicants. Individual components of the mixture could be discerned from the resultant gene expression profile. The mixture expression profile had genes not found in other treatments, suggesting how these compounds may act synergistically to alter the toxicological response. Another goal of our research was to determine if gene expression profiles could be used for biomarker discovery. A meta-analysis was performed using hierarchical cluster analysis to determine if the expression profiles from fish exposed to the same toxicant would be grouped together. If the algorithm uses a toxicant specific gene list to cluster, the expression profiles are grouped according to toxicant class. This finding suggests that expression levels of sets of contaminant responsive genes could act as multivariate biomarkers. In summary, these studies demonstrate the potential for global gene expression studies to be used in field studies, since the resulting gene expression profiles are toxicant specific, change with time and with dose, and can potentially identify components of a mixture.

Seminar recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
Andrew Meijers, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5335
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 7888
Tracey Cochrane, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2937

Last updated 24/09/10