CHARACTERISATION AND EXPRESSION OF COPPER HOMEOSTASIS GENES IN SEA BREAM (Sparus aurata) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The redox properties of Copper (Cu) make it both an ideal cofactor for many enzymes, and, in its free form, a highly toxic molecule capable of stimulating production of reactive oxygen species or binding to protein thiol groups. Therefore, living organisms have evolved homeostatic systems to “handle” Cu avoiding dangerous and wasteful aspecific interactions. These systems comprise uptake, carrier, storage and excretion proteins. The importance of Cu-homeostatic systems was initially discovered in humans where alterations of Cu-excretory proteins were shown to be responsible for two lethal genetic disorders; the Wilson and Menkes diseases. The levels of bioavailable Cu in the aquatic environment is important because concentrations in oceanic waters tend to be minute, whilst in some fresh and coastal waters, particularly around areas of mineral extraction, viniculture and farming operations, concentrations can be excessive. In contrast to terrestrial vertebrates, fish are not only exposed to dietary sources of copper but are also exposed to dissolved ionic copper that may enter via the skin and gills. Indeed, the latter route is important in fish and it has been demonstrated in physiological studies that under conditions of dietary deficiency, fish can satisfy their own body requirements by uptake from water. Therefore, fish must have systems relating to both gill and gut to enable maintenance of body homeostasis of this essential, yet toxic, metal. In an attempt to understand the mechanisms of Cu homeostasis in fish, whether under conditions of deficiency, adequacy or excess, it is essential to consider the expression of known Cu-homeostasis proteins. Thus, cDNAs for sea bream (Sparus aurata) homologues of copper transporter 1 (Ctr1), antioxidant protein 1 (Atox1), Menkes protein (ATP7A), Wilson protein (ATP7B), and metallothionein (MT), which are responsible for the uptake, delivery to the secretory pathway and scavenging of