NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Louisiana State University will lead a multi-partner study funded by the National Science Foundation to sequence and analyze the genome of the Atlantic killifish, a fish known for having a high tolerance for pollutants and for wide variations in temperature.
Because of its ability to survive in these difficult habitats the killifish is seen as a model for studies of environmental changes, climate change, and pollution. This research, funded with $165,000 from NSF, will create a sequence of the killifish genome that could be used as a reference against other killifish populations in order to discover the genes and genetic changes that underlie its pollution tolerance.
LSU is joined by partners at Washington University in St. Louis, Indiana University, the University of Miami, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory.
Researchers at the University of Miami already have created a database on the expression of 1,000 genes for killifish and have used it to make discoveries about its pollution tolerance.