Gene expression in five salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis, Krøyer 1837) tissues

The Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L, is an important species both for traditional fishery and fish farming. Many Atlantic salmon stocks have been declining and a suspected main contributor to this decline is the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis); a parasitic copepod living off the salmonid hosts epidermal tissues and blood. Contributing to the growing body of knowledge on the molecular biology of the salmon louse we have utilized a microarray containing 11,100 salmon louse genes to study the gene expression patterns in selected tissues. This approach has yielded information about potential functions of the transcripts and tissues. Microarray analyses were preformed on subcuticular and frontal (neuronal and gland enriched tissue) tissues, as well as gut, ovary and testes of adult lice. Tissue specific transcriptomes were evident, allowing us to address main traits of functional partitioning between tissues and providing valuable insight into the biology of the louse. The results furthermore represent an important tool and resource for further experiments.