Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Being exposed to a stressor can cause the organism to become more resistant to subsequent stressors. This appears to be a basic feature of life as it has been observed at all levels of biological organization, from cells to whole organisms. This has been called by several terms including hardening, cross-tolerance, pre-adaptation, and hormesis. The increase in cellular heat shock proteins is also extraordinarily widespread. Heat shock proteins are found in plant and animal cells and increase in quantity when the cell or organism is stressed by biological as well as non-biological stressors. Through our NSERC-funded research, we have shown hormesis to occur in fish, particularly in the tidepool sculpins that live in the intertidal zone on the west coast of Canada. In a wide range of fish species including salmon and trout from temperate climates, various species from the tropics, and one species in Antarctica, we have been studying the role that heat shock proteins play in how fish adapt to their changing environments. We have been investigating the possible role that heat shock proteins might play in the hormetic response in fish. In this proposed work, we will work with the zebrafish and continue our study of the role that heat shock proteins may play in the hormetic response. We will also develop lines of zebrafish, through selective breeding, that are stress-resistant and stress-sensitive. We will continue our association with the fish farming industry, as well as work with the sport fishing industry, to help manage stress in fish. It is possible that stress-mitigating procedures might be developed as an outcome of our work. For example, if we can develop a way to mildly stress salmon before they are shipped, graded or otherwise handled and stressed, it may help them better cope with such stressful practices.