Project description:White bass (Morone chrysops) are a popular sportfish throughout the southern United States, and one parent of the commercially successful hybrid striped bass (M. chrysops x M. saxatilis). Currently, white bass are cultured using diets formulated for other carnivorous fish, such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) or hybrid striped bass and contain a significant percentage of marine fish meal. Since there are no studies regarding the utilization of alternative proteins in this species, we evaluated global gene expression of white bass fed diets in which fish meal was partially or totally replaced by various combinations of soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, canola meal, soy protein concentrate, wheat gluten, or a commercial protein blend (Pro-Cision). Significant differential expressed genes and gene ontology of pairwise comparisons between control diet and each test diet are presented and discussed.
Project description:We modeled profiles of ovary gene expression and their relationship to egg quality, evaluated as production of viable mid-blastula stage embryos, in striped bass (Morone saxatilis) using artificial neural networks and supervised machine learning. Collective changes in expression of a limited suite of genes (233) representing only 2% of the queried ovary transcriptome explained >90% of the eventual variance in embryo survival. Egg quality related to minor changes in expression (M-bM-^IM-$0.2-fold), with most gene transcripts making minor contribution (<1%) to the overall prediction of egg quality. Correlation analyses of this suite of candidate genes indicated that collective dysfunction of the ubiquitin-26S proteasome, COP9 signalosome, and subsequent control of the cell cycle engenders embryonic developmental incompetence in striped bass. Our results show that the transcriptomic signature evidencing this dysfunction is of, and therefore likely to influence, egg quality, a biologically complex trait that is crucial to reproductive fitness. Female striped bass were sorted into groups (N=8 each) producing M-bM-^@M-^Xhigh qualityM-bM-^@M-^Y or M-bM-^@M-^Xlow qualityM-bM-^@M-^Y eggs (spawns) based upon the percentage of eggs bearing viable 4 h embryos. Spawns with >50% of eggs producing 4 h embryos were considered to be of high quality and spawns with <30% of eggs producing 4 h embryos were considered to be of low quality.
Project description:We modeled profiles of ovary gene expression and their relationship to egg quality, evaluated as production of viable mid-blastula stage embryos, in striped bass (Morone saxatilis) using artificial neural networks and supervised machine learning. Collective changes in expression of a limited suite of genes (233) representing only 2% of the queried ovary transcriptome explained >90% of the eventual variance in embryo survival. Egg quality related to minor changes in expression (≤0.2-fold), with most gene transcripts making minor contribution (<1%) to the overall prediction of egg quality. Correlation analyses of this suite of candidate genes indicated that collective dysfunction of the ubiquitin-26S proteasome, COP9 signalosome, and subsequent control of the cell cycle engenders embryonic developmental incompetence in striped bass. Our results show that the transcriptomic signature evidencing this dysfunction is of, and therefore likely to influence, egg quality, a biologically complex trait that is crucial to reproductive fitness.
Project description:Columnaris disease is a prevalent disease in freshwater environments worldwide caused by the ubiquitous aquatic bacterium Flavobacterium species. Adhesion to the external mucosal surfaces of fishes is the initial stage of infection, and the gills specifically have been identified as both a primary target and release site for this pathogen. Previous research has indicated that a predominant US aquaculture product, the hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis), is more susceptible to infection with Flavobacterium columnare (covae) than the maternal white bass (M. chrysops) parental species. Therefore, to further elucidate the differences between these fish we conducted a transcriptomic profiling study examining the differences of gene expression in gill mucosal tissue over time after exposure to F. covae isolate LSU-066-04. Combined with previous work, these data provide a greater understanding of host immune response to a common pathogen in moronids.
Project description:Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of US food production, with hybrid striped bass (HSB) considered a major species. A significant issue in HSB aquaculture stems from the large amount of variation in growth observed when growing-out these hybrids to market size adults. The goal of this study was therefore to determine if significant differences in metabolic gene expression might play a role in observed growth differences in HSB. The objective of this study was to use RNAseq on liver tissue of superior and inferior performing HSB representatives to identify global expression differences in HSB adults.