Research Focus
Elucidating the (genomic) mechanisms of resilience to environmental change in marine organisms
As oceans warm, marine organisms need to be resilient and be able to withstand, resist, recover from, and acclimatize to the rapidly changing environments around them. From coral to fish, Dr. Strand’s research investigates the genomic patterns (e.g., epigenetics, gene expression) that may elicit differential phenotypes before, during, and after environmental exposure. Additionally, she evaluates the potential for resilience or susceptibility to be passed down to future generations. By identifying the most important factors involved in resilience, like thermal tolerance, Dr. Strand’s research aims to turn these unknown changes into predictable ones. Through partnerships with conservation practitioners, she is chasing the ability to predict the ‘winners’ and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation efforts.
Harnessing predictable epigenetic changes to fill data gaps in fisheries and aquaculture management
In contrast to unknown epigenetic changes in response to environmental conditions, there are predictable, stable epigenetic changes that occur in the cell as well. For example, as individuals age, DNA methylation patterns change in predictable ways in specific regions of the genomes. We can take advantage of these predictable changes by generating ‘epigenetic aging clock’ models. These models can provide fisheries management with valuable age information that is lacking for many commercially important fisheries species.
The Gulf of Maine is warming more rapidly than most ocean regions, and a result, Atlantic salmon reproduction is heavily impacted at aquaculture facilities like the USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center. Spawning is occurring a month later than normal, and offspring survival rates (i.e., eye-up rates) have decreased. In collaboration with USDA, Dr. Strand is investigating the epigenetic effects of warmer temperatures on adults (a.k.a., broodstock) as well as the potential for epigenetic inheritance and transgenerational impacts.
Collaborators: National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center : USDA ARS
Dr. Strand’s research takes advantage of already predictable epigenetic pattern changes, like those that occur with the passage of time. Using DNA methylation change as biomarker of aging, Dr. Strand generates epigenetic aging clock models that predict age values of individual organisms like fish and squid. Fisheries management depends heavily on accurate age information to sustainably manage populations that will be resilient to future environmental conditions.
Read more about the Haddock epigenetic aging clock here: Building an ‘epigenetic clock’: Utilizing whole genome DNA methylation patterns to predict age in haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus | bioRxiv
Collaborators: Northeast Fisheries Science Center | NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center | NOAA Fisheries, Narragansett Laboratory | NOAA Fisheries
Dr. Strand is a collaborator on a long-term monitoring project in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, focused on paired coral colonies where one consistently bleaches during the summer while the other remains resilient. Her work delves into the symbiotic community and epigenetic differences that are driving recurring phenotypes during high temperature seasons to identify biomarkers of thermal resilience in closely related individuals.
Collaborators: Hollie Putnam – Biological Sciences (University of Rhode Island), Katie Barott | Department of Biology (University of Pennsylvania), Craig E. Nelson, Department of Oceanography (University of Hawai’i)