Proteome changes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fertilized eggs as an effect of triploidization heat-shock treatment

• Effects of heat-shock on proteome of rainbow trout fertilized eggs were studied.
• Decreased abundance of vitellogenin in egg was associated with reduced survival.
• Reduction of egg vitellogenin was associated with lowered growth of triploid fish.

The aim of the present study was to explore proteome changes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fertilized eggs as an effect of triploidization heat-shock treatment. Eggs and milt were taken from eight females and six males. The gametes were pooled to minimize the individual differences. After insemination, the eggs were incubated at 10 °C for 10 min. Half of the fertilized eggs were then subjected to heat shock for 10 min submerged in a 28 °C water bath to induce triploidy. The remainder were incubated normally and used as diploid controls. Three batches of eggs were randomly selected from each group and were incubated at 10–11 °C under the same environmental conditions in hatchery troughs until the fry stage. Triplicate samples of 30 eggs (10 eggs per trough) from each group were randomly selected 1.5 h post-fertilization for proteome extraction. Egg proteins were analyzed using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Based on the results from the statistical analyses, 15 protein spots were found to decrease significantly in abundance in heat-shock treated group and were selected for identification. Out of 15 protein spots showing altered abundance, 14 spots were successfully identified. All of the egg proteins identified in our study were related to vitellogenin (vtg). Decreased abundance of vitellogenin in heat-shock treated eggs in our study may either be explained by (i) higher utilization of vtg as an effect of increased cell size in triploids or (ii) changed metabolism in response to heat-shock stress and (iii) diffusion of vtg through chorion due to incidence of egg shell damage. Decreased abundance of vitellogenin in heat-shock treated eggs was associated with reduced early survival rates and lowered growth performance of triploid fish.