Suppression subtractive hybridization cDNA libraries to identify differentially expressed genes from contrasting fish habitats.

Suppression subtractive hybridization complementary DNA libraries identified differentially expressed genes in liver tissue of winter flounder collected from the highly impacted Raritan-Hudson estuary versus those from less industrialized estuaries farther south in New Jersey. Distinct transcript profiles emerged in the fish from these different habitats. A total of 251 clones from the forward (upregulated with anthropogenic impact) and reverse (downregulated with anthropogenic impact) subtracted libraries were sequenced. In the upregulated library immune response transcripts, including complement C-3, C-7, factor H, factor Bf/C2, differentially regulated trout protein 1, and the antimicrobial hepcidin, indicated the pollution-impacted fish were under a high viral or bacterial load. Transcripts for cytochrome P450 1A, P450 3A, and glutathione S-transferase, important components of phase I and II metabolism of xenobiotics, were found in the upregulated-with-pollution library. Vitellogenins I and II and egg envelope protein (zp) appeared to be downregulated. A homologue of the tumor suppressor p33(ING1) (down) and hepatocyte growth factor-like protein (up) may indicate liver damage or hepatocellular carcinoma or hepatoma. These expression patterns, confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, indicate that transcript analysis is a useful method for assessing the health of local habitats and the organisms therein.