Research areas
Genomic and physiological approaches are being used to investigate muscle growth and adaptation in teleost fish. Skeletal muscle fibres are produced during the embryonic, larval and adult stages of the lifecycle. The genetic mechanisms controlling the production of muscle fibres and their subsequent hypertrophy are being studied. Several novel myogenic genes have been discovered and their functions characterised using in vivo and in vitro using primary muscle cultures. Using various models involving body size evolution and temperature adaptation I have shown strong selection for fibre size optimization, with consequences for the life-time production of muscle fibres. Universal scaling laws affecting muscle dimensions and energy metabolism can therefore successfully explain variations in fibre number and fine scale evolutionary patterns of myogenesis between populations and species. Salmonid fish have undergone two whole genome duplications relative to their common ancestor with tetrapods resulting in up to 8 copies (paralogues) of some genes. The role of gene paralogues in the signaling pathways regulating growth is being studied. Other research interests include the molecular mechanisms underlying seasonal temperature acclimation in fish and the consequences for muscle power output and swimming performance. Embryonic stress in zebrafish was shown to have persistent affects on thermal acclimation and myogenesis that persisted to adulthood, even after fish were raised from hatching at a common temperature. The mechanisms are currently under investigation at the genomic, tissue and whole animal levels.
Selected publications
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Open access
Temperature-associated selection linked to putative chromosomal inversions in king scallop (Pecten maximus)
Hollenbeck, C. M., Portnoy, D. S., Garcia de la serrana, D., Magnesen, T., Matejusova, I. & Johnston, I. A., 12 Oct 2022, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences. 289, 1984, 11 p., 20221573.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability
British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study Interest Group, Jun 2023, In: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. 65, 6, p. 803-810 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Demonstration of the use of environmental DNA for the non-invasive genotyping of a bivalve mollusk, the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis)
Holman, L., Hollenbeck, C. M., Ashton, T. J. & Johnston, I. A., 19 Nov 2019, In: Frontiers in Genetics. 10, 7 p., 1159.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Influence of feed ration size on somatic and muscle growth in landlocked dwarf and farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar
Andersen, Ø., Vieira, V., Dessen, J.-E. & Johnston, I. A., Apr 2019, In: Journal of Fish Biology. 94, 4, p. 614-620 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Visual impairment, severe visual impairment, and blindness in children in Britain (BCVIS2): a national observational study
British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study Interest Group, Mar 2021, In: The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. 5, 3, p. 190-200 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
A collaborative European approach to accelerating translational marine science
Brennecke, P., Ferrante, M., Johnston, I. A. & Smith, D., 5 Jul 2018, In: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 6, 3, 12 p., 81.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Duplication of a single myhz1.1 gene facilitated the ability of goldfish (Carassius auratus) to alter fast muscle contractile properties with seasonal temperature change
Garcia de la Serrana, D., Wreggelsworth, K. & Johnston, I. A., 4 Dec 2018, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Frontiers in Physiology. 9, 10 p., 1724.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Genomic tools and selective breeding in molluscs
Hollenbeck, C. M. & Johnston, I. A., 18 Jul 2018, In: Frontiers in Genetics. 9, 15 p., 253.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
A workflow used to design low density SNP panels for parentage assignment and traceability in aquaculture species and its validation in Atlantic salmon
Holman, L. E., Garcia de la Serrana, D., Onoufriou, A., Hillestad, B. & Johnston, I. A., 1 Jul 2017, In: Aquaculture. 476, p. 59-64 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Divergent regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein genes in cultured Atlantic salmon myotubes under different models of catabolism and anabolism
Garcia de la Serrana, D., Jofre, E. N., Martin, S. A. M., Johnston, I. A. & Macqueen, D. J., 1 Jun 2017, In: General and Comparative Endocrinology. 247, p. 53-65 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review