Environmental enrichment improved learning and memory, increased telencephalic cell proliferation, and induced differential gene expression in Colossoma macropomum
Creators: name: Pereira, Patrick
name: Ediely Pereira Henrique
name: Danillo Porfírio
name: Crispim, Caio
name: Maitê Campos
name: Oliveira, Renata
name: Silva, Isabella
name: Guerreiro, Luma
name: Silva, Anderson
name: Rosa, João
name: Dmitre Azevedo
name: Lima, Cecília
name: Cintya Abreu
name: Filho, Carlos
name: Picanço-Diniz, Domingos Wanderley
name: Magalhães, Nara
name: Cristovam Guerreiro Diniz
name: Cristovam Wanderley Picanço Diniz
name: Diniz, Daniel Guerreiro
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: 60802 Animal Cell and Molecular Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Computational Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: 60408 Genomics
subject: 60410 Neurogenetics
subject: Neuroscience

description: Fish use spatial cognition based on allocentric cues to navigate, but little is known about how environmental enrichment (EE) affects learning and memory in correlation with hematological changes or gene expression in the fish brain. Here we investigated these questions in Colossoma macropomum (Teleostei). Fish were housed for 192 days in either EE or in an impoverished environment (IE) aquarium. EE contained toys, natural plants, and a 12-hour/day water stream for voluntary exercise, whereas IE had no toys, plants, or water stream. A third plus maze aquarium was used for spatial and object recognition tests. Compared with IE, the EE fish showed greater learning rates, body length, and body weight. After behavioral tests, whole brain tissue was taken, stored in RNA-later, and then homogenized for DNA sequencing after conversion of isolated RNA. To compare read mapping and gene expression profiles across libraries for neurotranscriptome differential expression, we mapped back RNA-seq reads to the C. macropomum De novo assembled transcriptome. The results showed significant differential behavior, cell counts and gene expression in EE and IE individuals. As compared with IE, we found a greater number of cells in the telencephalon of individuals maintained in EE but no significant difference in the tectum otpticum, suggesting differential plasticity in these areas. A total of 107,669 transcripts were found that ultimately yielded 64 differentially expressed transcripts between IE and EE brains. Another group of adult fish growing in aquaculture conditions were either subjected to exercise using running water flow or maintained sedentary. Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood showed a significantly higher density of lymphocytes, and platelets but no significant differences in erythrocytes and granulocytes. Thus, under the influence of contrasting environments, our findings showed differential changes at the behavioral, cellular, and molecular levels. We propose that the differential expression of selected transcripts, number of telencephalic cell counts, learning and memory performance, and selective hematological cell changes may be part of Teleostei adaptive physiological responses triggered by EE visuospatial and somatomotor stimulation. Our findings suggest abundant differential gene expression changes depending on environment and provide a basis for exploring gene regulation mechanisms under EE.