Changes In Red Tilapia (Oreochromis Sp.) Mouth Mucus During Mouthbrooding: A Proteomics Approach

Red tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) is a maternal mouthbrooder displaying an advanced form of parental care by keeping the eggs/fries inside the mouth. Proteomics approach was used to investigate the changes of the proteome in the mouth mucus during mouthbrooding. Non-parental mouth mucus proteome was used as control. With PMF and MS/MS, a total of 25 protein spots were confidently identified. The identified proteins such as glycolytic enzymes, type II keratin, HSC70, proteasome, and NKEF suggests that there is a need for higher energy production, stress mediation, protein maintenance, and specific defence mechanism in parental tilapia during mouthbrooding. In summary, proteomics approach has revealed that there are changes in the tilapia mouth mucus proteome during mouthbrooding and the identified proteins provide interesting insights in mouth mucus proteome

Proteomics of Buccal Cavity Mucus in Female Tilapia Fish (Oreochromis spp.): A Comparison between Parental and Non-Parental Fish

Mouthbrooding is an elaborate form of parental care displayed by many teleost species. While the direct benefits of mouthbrooding such as protection and transportation of offsprings are known, it is unclear if mouthbrooding offers additional benefits to embryos during incubation. In addition, mouthbrooding could incur negative costs on parental fish, due to limited feeding opportunities. Parental tilapia fish (Oreochromis spp.) display an elaborated form of parental care by incubating newly hatched embryos in oral buccal cavity until the complete adsorption of yolk sac. In order to understand the functional aspects of mouthbrooding, we undertake a proteomics approach to compare oral mucus sampled from mouthbrooders and non-mouthbrooders, respectively. Majority of the identified proteins have also been previously identified in other biological fluids or mucus-rich organs in different organisms. We also showed the upregulation of 22 proteins and down regulation of 3 proteins in mucus collected from mouthbrooders. Anterior gradient protein, hemoglobin beta-A chain and alpha-2 globin levels were lower in mouthbrooder samples. Mouthbrooder oral mucus collectively showed increase levels of proteins related to cytoskeletal properties, glycolytic pathway and mediation of oxidative stress. Overall the findings suggest cellular stress response, probably to support production of mucus during mouthbrooding phase