PIF2024 - Fenotipado holístico de las características evolutivas/adaptativas de peces en cultivo. El holobionte de la dorada: del pangenoma al metagenoma (PID2023-146990OB-I00)

Global warming is already a serious challenge for the aquaculture industry, becoming necessary to understand how the genetic variability and phenotypic plasticity of cultured fish can contribute to minimize the impact of global warming, promoting at the same time the transition to a more ethical and sustainable aquaculture. To this end, we proposed the simultaneous assessment of different omic approaches, including the assemblage of host with many other species living in or around it, which constitutes the holobiont unit. Attention will be focused on gilthead sea bream, an economically important farmed fish with a recognized plasticity, exemplified by its hermaphroditic, euryhaline and eurythermic nature with a high rate of gene duplications. The specific objectives of the PhD student within the BreamHOLOBIONT project will be to develop and adapt new tools of welfare assessment based on integrative transcriptomic/epigenetic approaches, behavioural microbiomics and pan-tissue master clocks of biological age with the potential to disclose new fish Welfare Audits. Such approach will contribute 1) to underscore how the host transcriptome and epigenome are changing on a seasonal basis; 2) to evaluate how mild-hypoxia pre-conditioning and dietary interventions can contribute to increase the range of temperature tolerance: and 3) to integrate behavioural and multi-omics data to unravel the inner plastic response of sea bream holobiont from a probabilistic multi-layer approach.