A new type.
A new technique.
An entire new field.
What would you do if you found a new way to study fish?
That’s exactly what a team of scientists at Harvard University, including a professor of marine biology, have done with a newly discovered technique.
The technique is called genome sequencing, and it allows researchers to sequence the genomes of individual fish, such as the bluefish known as Atlantic Blue, and the smaller, brownish fish known as Persea Perch, the researchers said.
“This is the first time that we have used genomic sequencing to identify a single species that has been successfully sequenced in this way, and this is the only species that we know exists,” said study co-author Robert G. Lacey, a marine biology professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
“We believe that the only way we’ll ever have a chance to understand the ecology and biology of fish is to study these species,” Lacey added.
Growth of the speciesThe researchers found that bluefish can be found in a variety of habitats, and they live in a range of different types of environments, including salty water, shallow reefs and lakes.
They discovered that there is an increase in the number of genes encoding proteins involved in the development of fish skin, which they have named the skin protein GFP.
The skin protein is also associated with other skin tissues, such the gill plate and eye muscle.”GFP has evolved a suite of skin proteins that we thought might be important in determining the size and shape of fish,” Lacy said.
The researchers are now looking for more genes involved in these skin proteins to determine the size of the fish.
“It was really exciting to find out that we actually have the ability to find new skin proteins in the same species that have evolved over time,” Larkin said.
The researchers hope that the new findings will help scientists better understand how the skin of fish changes over time.
“Because the genome sequence of each species is very similar, we can actually get a lot more information about changes in the skin,” said Lacey.
The discovery could have implications for fish welfare, as fish may become less susceptible to parasites.
This is because many parasites in fish have altered the structure of their hosts, such that the host’s skin is not completely covered by the parasite.
“These changes in host physiology are very interesting for determining whether there is something like a fish immune system, and we want to be able to tease out the effects of these changes on the parasite,” said G. Scott Anderson, a biologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
The study was published online May 15 in the journal Science Advances.
