Harnessing epigenetics to induce robustness in rainbow trout for sustainable production in the light of climate change (EpiTrout)

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector, contributing markedly to global food security. Temperature rise linked to climate change is an immediate and future threat to the sustainable growth of the sector. The negative impact of temperature rise on farmed fish is expected to be more in Sweden than elsewhere.

It is because i) Sweden´s average temperature is rising more than the global average, and ii) the major commercial fish in Sweden, rainbow trout are adapted to cold water and have narrow thermal tolerance limits.

To address the impacts of temperature rise on farmed trout, there is a great need to develop a sustainable adaptive management strategy.

Previously, I had shown that conditioning a crustacean model Artemia by exposing them at early stages to bioactive compound phloroglucinol produced stress-resistant progenies for 3 successive generations. The inheritance of acquired traits was associated with a significant alteration in the levels of key epigenetic marks.

EpiTrout will be the first to use an epigenetic approach to explore whether conditioning trout at parental generation or early life stages, by exposure to phloroglucinol, could produce robust trout that could potentially adapt to and mitigate the negative effects of temperature rise in an aquaculture setting.

This strategy is aligned with one of the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to include mitigation and adaptation measures to meet the challenges faced by the agriculture sectors.