Tao Han

Ovarian Transcriptome Analysis of Portunus trituberculatus Provides Insights into Genes Expressed during Phase III and IV Development

Enhancing the production of aquatic animals is crucial for fishery management and aquaculture applications. Ovaries are specialized tissues that play critical roles in producing oocytes and hormones. Significant biochemical changes take place during the sexual maturation of Portunus trituberculatus, but the genetics of this process has not been extensively studied. Transcriptome sequencing can be used to determine gene expression changes within specific periods. In the current study, we used transcriptome sequencing to produce a comprehensive transcript dataset for the ovarian development of P. trituberculatus. Approximately 100 million sequencing reads were generated, and 126,075 transcripts were assembled. Functional annotation of the obtained transcripts revealed important pathways in ovarian development, such as those involving the vitellogenin gene. Also, we performed deep sequencing of ovaries in phases III and IV of sexual maturation in P. trituberculatus. Differential analysis of gene expression identified 506 significantly differentially expressed genes, which belong to 20 pathway, transporters, development, transcription factors, metabolism of other amino acids, carbohydrate and lipid, solute carrier family members, and enzymes. Taken together, our study provides the first comprehensive transcriptomic resource for P. trituberculatus ovaries, which will strengthen understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the sexual maturation process and advance molecular nutritional studies of P. trituberculatus.

Effects of Dietary Carbohydrate-to-Lipid Ratios on Growth and Body Composition of Orange-spotted Grouper Epinephelus coioides

AbstractGrowth performance of juvenile Orange-spotted Grouper Epinephelus coioides fed isonitrogenous (45% crude protein) and isoenergetic diets with varying carbohydrate-to-lipid ratios (0 to 10.9) were evaluated. Triplicate groups of 18 fish (initial mean individual body weight, 16.4 g/) were fed to satiety for 8 weeks. At the termination of this trial, significant differences (P < 0.05) were found on the growth performance. Weight gain and specific growth rate values increased with decreasing dietary carbohydrate-to-lipid ratios. The highest feed conversion ratio value and the lowest protein efficiency ratio value were observed in fish fed the 10.9 carbohydrate-to-lipid ratio diet. Besides, fish fed the 10.9 carbohydrate-to-lipid ratio exhibited the lowest nitrogen retention and energy retention values. With the diet carbohydrate-to-lipid ratios decreasing, hepatosomatic index values were reduced significantly (P < 0.001), while the intraperitoneal fat index values showed an inverse trend. Whole-body p...

Transcriptome analysis reveals carbohydrate-mediated liver immune responses in Epinephelus akaara

As the cheapest energy source, carbohydrates are used in fish feeds to improve physical quality and reduce catabolism of proteins and lipids. The liver is the primary organ for metabolism and is also an important site of immune regulation. Here, we investigated the effect of different dietary carbohydrate levels on growth and health by evaluating the liver transcriptome of Epinephelus akaara. In this study, E. akaara juveniles were fed diets containing few (0% corn starch), moderate (18% corn starch), and high (30% corn starch) levels of dietary carbohydrate. After an 8-week feeding trial, E. akaara fed 30% dietary carbohydrates exhibited poor growth performance compared with those fed 0% and 18% dietary carbohydrates (P > 0.05). Genes related to the immune system, including IL8, TLR9, CXCR4, CCL4, and NFκB inhibitor alpha, were over-expressed in E. akaara fed the highest level of carbohydrate (30%). This general over-expression could indicate activation of inflammatory processes in the liver. The liver transcriptome data of E. akaara reported here indicate that high carbohydrate level of diet can lead to poor growth and inflammatory immune response in E. akaara.