Hepatic gene expression analysis between low and high growing hybrid striped bass

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. Overall design: Domesticated F8 white bass and F4 striped bass were bred in a partial diallel breeding design to create hybrid striped bass (HSB) and reared in replicate family tanks until large enough to tag with a PIT tag. Thirty-two fish from each of 44 half-sib families were tagged and initial length and weight was recorded before being randomly assigned to one of four 0.04 hectare communal ponds resulting in 5632 individually tagged fingerlings. Fish were allowed to grow for 115 days prior to harvest. At harvest tags were scanned to reveal family of origin, final length and weight were taken. The largest and smallest HSB were sacrificed and liver samples taken. Equimolar amounts of total RNA were pooled from the extreme fish for RNA sequencing.