Nutrient-Gene Interactions in fishes

INTRODUCTION:-

A nutrient can be considered as chemical element or compound that an

animal can utilize in metabolism or growth. An essential nutrient is one that
animal can synthesise. Thus ,an animal’s requirement for essential nutrients must
be met through its diet. While the determination of individual nutrient
requirements or the growing no of cultivatble species would continued to be
important, there is an increasing need to find way to meet these requirements
using greater diversity of feedstuffs and gene.

Nutrient ha marked influences on gene interaction and an understanding

of interaction between nutrient & gene expression is important in order to
provide a basis for determining the nutritional requirements on an individual
basis. The effect of nutrition can be there at many stages between transcription of
genetic sequence and production of a functional protein. The dietary long chain n-
3 PUFA in fish oil stimulates the gene expression of lipoprotein lipase in human
adipose tissue. The complexity of nutrient–gene interactions has led to the
development of a new branch in the nutrition sciences, the nutrigenomics. The
individual susceptibility to nutrient on environment → genotype → phenotype
interplay makes this new research field extremely promising although complex.

Development of new tools enabling exploration of the cause-effect

phenomena at the molecular level stimulated scientists to develop hypotheses
and conduct experiments to lay the foundation for a deeper level of
understanding of gene-diet interactions. Today, an emerging field of nutritional
research focuses on identifying the molecular interactions between nutritional
bioactive components and processes through which genome-encoded proteins
are expressed.

The analysis of gene–nutrient interactions rapidly became a focal point of

applicative research, since several types of environmental stimuli are able to
modify genomes and diet is by far the most important of them. Furthermore, the
gastrointestinal system is an interface between the external environment and the
body and functions to extract nutrients from food as well as handle the non-
nutrient components in foods. Investigation of how genes and gene products
metabolize nutritional factors and, conversely, how dietary compounds regulate
gene expression by determining phenotype modification has been defined as
“nutrigenomics”.

The tenets of nutrigenomics are essentially based on the concepts that:

(1) Diet can be an important risk factor for a wide number of diseases.

(2) Dietary compounds can directly or indirectly interact with the genome by
altering gene expression.

(3) The individual genetic pattern can influence the balance between physiological
and pathological condition determined by diet.

(4) Several diet-regulated genes can play a fundamental role in the incidence and
progression of many chronic diseases.

(5) A personalized diet on the basis of nutritional status and genotype can be very
helpful in preventing and curing chronic diseases.

Nutrient-Gene Interactions

With the ongoing expansion of molecular biology and genetics at rapid

pace, scientists are now beginning to address this link between nutrition and
genetics. An ability to define interaction between nutrition and gene expression
will enable nutritionists to identify individuals with particular dietary needs. In
abroad sense this enable understanding of how the role of nutrients in
metabolism is linked to biochemical events which lead to gene expression .

Fig shows the influence of nutrient intake to gene expression and protein
synthesis. It also reflects the influence of nutrient intake and nutrient
requirements. In short, it involves in addressing of important fundamental
questions: which gene, particularly those involved in the control of metabolism,
growth and differentiation, are regulated by nutrition, how do nutrients and diet
regulate the expression of genes, and how the expression of specific gene
products is involved in metabolism and channelling of nutrients.

Nutrient Nutrient
intake requiremen

Gene expression Nutrient uptake, channelling

DNA→RNA→Protein & metabolism

Fig: scheme of two interlinked processes.

The effect of feeding frequency, feeding level and temperature on energy

metabolism Sparus aurata (medeterranean carnivorous fishes) has been trace
down to molecular levels. It has been shown that 6-phosphofructo-2-
kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase gene expression is regulated by diet
composition and ration size in liver of gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata .
however liver insulin-like growth factor-I mRNA is not effected by diet
composition or ration size but shows diurnal variation is regularly fed gilthead
seabream (Sparus aurata).
Unlike mammals, high CHO & low protein diet have been shown to have
increased expression of glucokinase with no effect on hepatic G6Pase indicating
favour of glycolytic process over gluconeogenesis in carnivorous fish. It is studied
that very limited ability of marine fishes to convert dietary C18 precursor fatty
acid to highly unsaturated fatty acids may be due to high content of HUfA in diet
commonly used to feed marine fish. Study with trout have also indicated that
dietary protein can modify white skeletal muscle characteristics both at cellular
(fibre size) and molecular (myosin heavy chain) expression levels.
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are recognized for their inefficiency in
utilizing high levels of dietary carbohydrates, leading to prolonged postprandial
hyperglycemia after oral administration of glucose or a carbohydrate-rich meal. In
contrast to non-diabetic mammals, rainbow trout exhibit a persistent high level of
mRNAs of hepatic gluconeogenic enzymes ( fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and
glucose-6-phosphatase) . Dietary lipids or proteins affect the activities of enzymes
involved in hepatic carbohydrate metabolism in fish. Diets of rainbow trout
generally contain 40% protein, amino acids are utilized as an energy source but
also constitute substrates for endogenous glucose synthesis.
Interaction of Fish Oil and Conjugated Linoleic Acid in Affecting Hepatic
Activity of Lipogenic Enzymes and Gene Expression in Liver and Adipose Tissue:-
The interaction of dietary fish oil and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in affecting
the activity of hepatic lipogenic enzymes and gene expression in liver and adipose
tissue was examined in mice. Different amounts (1.5, 3, and 6%) of fish oil added
to CLA-containing diets dose-dependently downregulated parameters of
lipogenesis and were accompanied by a parallel decrease in the triacylglycerol
level in the liver. The supplementation of CLA-containing diets with fish oil was
also associated with an increase in fat pad mass and mRNA levels of many
adipocyte-abundant genes in epididymal adipose tissue along with a
normalization of serum concentrations of leptin and adiponectin in a dose-
dependent manner.
Dietary Rapeseed Oil Affects the Expression of Genes Involved in Hepatic
Lipid Metabolism in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.)
Low Protein Intake Is Associated with Reduced Hepatic Gluconeogenic
Enzyme Expression in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

CONCLUSION:
Now it has been accepted that the core of nutrition is integrative biology.
Nutrient and gene regulation is an important adaptation allowing survival or
energy conservation depending on qualitative and quantitative food supplies. This
adoptive process exist in all species from yeast to mammal including aquatic
species. This response to particular nutrient in term of gene transcription and
formation of functional protein varies accourding to species. Nutritionist need to
understand these responses to gain better insight of system physiology and
integrate this knowledge to formulate practically sustainable and economic diet
across species.

REFERENCE:
o HALVER E.J., HARDY W.B. (2002). Nutritional Physiology in Fish Nutrition.
Academic press. 368p
o JADHAO S., (2002). Nutrient gene interactions and metabolic research in
aquaculture. C.I.F.E. 85-88p
o TOM LOVELL, (2009). Nutrition and feeding of fish, second edition. Kluwer
Academic Publishers. Springer. 267p
o Fishing chimes ,july2007