Liver transcriptome sequencing and de novo annotation of the large yellow croaker (Larimichthy crocea) under heat and cold stress

Large yellow croaker is an economically important marine fish in China. To understand the molecular mechanisms of this fish under temperature stress, liver transcriptomes of large yellow croakers undergoing heat and cold stress were investigated. The results showed that 130,246 contigs from cold stressed fish (CS), 109,203 contigs from control fish (NS) and 98,569 contigs from heat stressed fish (HS) were obtained from the liver transcriptomes with de novo analysis, respectively. And in total, 9467 (6113 up-regulated and 3364 down-regulated), 5350 (2185 up-regulated and 3165 down-regulated), 10,622 (3146 up-regulated and 7477 down-regulated) significantly differentially expressed genes were identified in CS–NS, HS–NS, and HS–CS, respectively. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that many pathways including those of energy metabolism and metabolic pathways were affected after temperature stress. Further qPCR analysis also confirmed that the expression levels of genes coding for key enzymes in metabolic pathways were dramatically changed.

Graphical abstractLarge yellow croaker is an important economically marine fish in China. To understand the molecular mechanisms of this fish under temperature stress, transcriptome of the liver of large yellow croakers undergoing heat and cold stress was investigated. The results found that average reads numbering 54.89 million from cold stressed fish (CS), 57.12 million from control fish (NS) and 55.34 million from heat stressed fish (HS) were obtained from the liver transcriptome, respectively. And in total, 9467 (6113 up-regulated and 3364 down-regulated), 5350 (2185 up-regulated and 3165 down-regulated), and 10,622 (3146 up-regulated and 7477 down-regulated) significantly differentially expressed genes were identified in CS–NS, HS–NS, and HS–CS, respectively. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that many pathways including those of energy metabolism and metabolic pathways were affected after temperature stress. Further qPCR analysis also confirmed that the genes coding for key enzymes in metabolic pathways were dramatically changed.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (95 K)Download as PowerPoint slide