Highlights
- Assessed tissues response of barramundi in acidification stress by RNA-seq analysis
- Acidification inhibited the immune function of barramundi in different tissues.
- Provided insights for susceptible physiological processes to acidification stress
Abstract
In order to explore the common and unique physiological changes in tissues of juvenile barramundi Lates calcarifer in acidified water environment, RNA sequence analysis was used to analyze the molecular responses of liver, head kidney, and gill of juvenile barramundi in pH 7.4 and pH 8.1 seawater environment. The number of differential expression genes identified in liver, head kidney and gill were 860, 388 and 1792, respectively. Through functional enrichment analysis, the differential expression genes common to the three tissues were all related to immunity. Among the unique differential genes in the liver, pathways related to digestion, endocrine, and metabolism were enriched. Among the unique differential expression genes in gill, pathways related to genetic information processing, immunity and metabolism were enriched. The findings of the present study uncover the transcriptional changes in fish correspond to environmental pH change, and provide a better understanding on the biological process at molecular level to environmental pH adapting. This work highlights that assessments for the potential of estuarine fishes to cope with environmental pH change to develop the future conservation strategies.
Fu Z., Yang R., Yu G. & Ma Z., in press. Tissue comparison of transcriptional response to acute acidification stress of barramundi Lates calcarifer in coastal and estuarine areas. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomics. Article (subscription required)
