Regulation and function of the stress response in fish

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Stress is a common feature of life and fish, like all organisms, have evolved responses to protect themselves against situations in their natural environment where demands exceed resources. The stress response involves a broad and coordinated suite of physiological changes aimed at reallocating energy away from non-essential functions (e.g. growth and reproduction) toward essential activities. The stress response is also tailored to the nature and duration of the challenge, and dependent on the resilience of the individual. Although fine-balance regulation of the stress response is essential to health and survival, relatively little is known about the mechanisms that regulate it. Therefore, research in my lab is focused on understanding the neuronal and hormonal mechanisms in fish by which stressors are perceived and processed into context-specific physiological responses. Taking advantage of the unique attributes of zebrafish as a developmental model and of rainbow trout to integrate cellular and molecular mechanisms with whole-organisms outcomes, this proposal addresses: 1) whether the mechanisms that regulate the stress response in adults are also involved in protecting neurons during the development of the central nervous system in zebrafish embryos; 2) how stressors during early embryonic development affects the stress response in larval and adult zebrafish; and 3) whether the hormone leptin is involved in the regulation of food intake, metabolism, and the stress response in rainbow trout during conditions of low oxygen availability. Overall, the proposal addresses novel questions about the role of the mediators of the stress response during development and the regulation of the stress response and food intake in response to environmental stressors. As such, this research will further our understanding of how the body copes with stressors and our ability to minimize or counteract the negative impact of stress. Our research also has important applications for the aquaculture industry and for agencies involved in the assessment of anthropomorphic activities on wild fish populations.