Transcriptomics for understanding marine fish larval development

The larval phase is a crucial period in the life of marine fish. During this phase, the organism will acquire the phenotype of an adult fish through the development of tissues and organs and the maturation of some of the principal physiological functions. Many biological processes (differentiation, cellular proliferation, growth, etc.) are regulated during this period. These regulations take place at different biological levels and particularly concern the expression of genes involved in larval ontogenesis processes. The development of bioinformatic resources (DNA or cDNA sequences) and molecular tools enabling high throughput gene expression analysis (microarrays) have allowed the transcriptome of marine fish species to be studied. In the present review, we summarize the main findings from transcriptomic investigations of development of marine fish larvae. Special attention is paid to investigations of transcriptomic patterns during postembryonic development and to the impact of environmental or nutritional factors on the transcriptome of marine fish larvae. Transcriptomic approaches will be especially useful in the future for investigating the effect of temperature and water acidification (or pH) on the development of different fish species in the context of global climate change. Le stade larvaire represente une etape cruciale dans la vie d'un poisson marin. Durant cette phase, l'organisme acquiert le phenotype du poisson adulte par le developpement de tissus et d'organes et la maturation de quelques-unes des principales fonctions physiologiques. Plusieurs processus biologiques (differenciation, proliferation cellulaire, croissance, etc.) sont controles durant cette periode. Ces controles se produisent a differents niveaux biologiques et impliquent en particulier l' expression de genes associes aux processus larvaires ontogeniques. La mise au point de ressources bioinformatiques (sequences d'ADN et d'ADNc) et d'outils moleculaires pour l'analyse a haut debit de l'expression des genes (microreseaux) a permis l' etude du transcriptome des especes de poissons marins. Dans notre retrospective, nous resumons les decouvertes principales des etudes transcriptomiques du developpement des larves de poissons. Nous portons une attention particuliere aux recherches de patrons transcriptomiques durant le developpement post-embryonnaire et l' impact des facteurs du milieu ou de l' alimentation sur le transcriptome des larves de poissons marins. Les methodes transcriptomiques seront particulierement utiles dans le futur pour l' etude des effets de la temperature et de l' acidification (pH) de l' eau sur le developpement des differentes especes de poissons dans le contexte du changement climatique global. [Traduit par la Redaction]
Introduction Fish egg hatching can take place at different embryonic stages depending on species and according to the abiotic conditions to which the eggs are subjected (the temperature, the dissolved [...]