Effects of temperature and salinity on antioxidant responses in livers of temperate (Dicentrarchus labrax) and tropical (Chanos Chanos) marine euryhaline fish

Temperature and salinity are abiotic factors that affect physiological responses in aquaculture species. The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a temperate species that is generally farmed at 18 degrees C in seawater (SW). In the wild, its incursions in shallow habitats such as lagoons may result in hyperthermal damage despite its high thermal tolerance. Meanwhile, the milkfish (Chanos chanos), a tropical species, is generally reared at 28 degrees C, and in winter, high mortality usually occurs under hypothermal stress such as cold snaps. This study compared changes in hepatic antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; and catalase, CAT) in these two important marine euryhaline aquaculture species in Europe and Southeast Asia, respectively, under temperature challenge combined with hypo-osmotic (fresh water, FW) stress. After a four-week hyper- or hypo-thermal treatment, hepatic SOD activity was upregulated in both species reared in SW and FW, indicating enhanced oxidative stress in European sea bass and milkfish. The expression profiles of sod isoforms suggested that in milkfish, the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) was mainly at the cytosol level, leading to increased sod1 expression. In European sea bass, however, no obvious difference was found between the expression of sod isoforms at different temperatures. A lower expression of sod2 was observed in FW compared to SW in the latter species. Moreover, no significant change was observed in the mRNA expression and activity of CAT in the livers of these two species under the different temperature treatments, with the exception of the lower CAT activity in milkfish challenged with SW at 18 degrees C. Taken together, our results indicated that the antioxidant responses were not changed under long-term hypoosmotic challenge but were enhanced during the four-week temperature treatments in livers of both the temperate and tropical euryhaline species.

Automated summary

Temperature and salinity can impact the physiological responses of aquaculture species. European sea bass and milkfish, farmed in Europe and Southeast Asia respectively, showed increased hepatic antioxidant enzyme activity in response to temperature challenges combined with hypo-osmotic stress over a four-week period. Despite differences in expression profiles, both species exhibited enhanced antioxidant responses under the conditions of the study.