EPIAQUA · Unravelling the epigenetic mechanisms underlying nutritional programming for sustainable aquaculture

Aquaculture supplies half of the fish consumed by humans, being the fastest growing food production sector worldwide. Reducing the use of fishery products in aquafeed by replacing them with more sustainable ingredients is a must to reach sustainability and meet future global food needs. In this sense, nutritional programming is a promising strategy with potential to increase production efficiency and fish health and minimize environmental impact. Epigenetics is thought to be responsible for the beneficial effects of early nutritional intervention, but, the mechanisms by which different types of nutritional interventions induce epigenetic modifications, and which ones they induce is largely unknown. EPIAQUA is an innovative and timely project that will unravel the multi-layered epigenetic entanglement underlying nutritional programming and its transgenerational inheritance, using Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) as a model, paving the way for advances in the use of sustainable aquafeeds. Specific goals are: 1) to elucidate cause-effect relationship of carbohydrate content and dietary fatty acids early intervention on the multi-layered epigenome, 2) to generate a better mechanistic understanding of the phenotypic changes induced by nutritional early intervention, and 3) to demonstrate the presence of epigenetic marks transgenerationally inherited and characterize the mechanisms underlying it. The new hypothesis that lncRNAs play a key role in the transmission and long-lasting effects of nutritionally mediated phenotypes is central to this proposal, being one of its ground-breaking elements and having major translational impacts. Moreover, EPIAQUA outcomes will provide novel mechanistic insights into the role of epigenetics in nutritional programming and identify novel epigenetic markers involved in tailoring metabolic pathways for better use of sustainable aquafeeds, what in turn will drive changes in husbandry protocols, and improve aquaculture sustainability.