Transcriptome analysis of the allometric growth of golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) following soybean meal feed

Abstract

Golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) is a marine fish of great commercial value. It was selected for a study on allometric growth using fermented soybean meal (SBM) as the primary protein source during an 8-week culture period. By comparing the gene expression levels of different individuals in the fermented soybean meal group, we discovered that 1026 genes exhibited significant changes in slow and fast-growth individuals. Among these genes, 358 showed high expression levels, while 668 showed low ones. Subsequently, we conducted go function annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis on all the significantly differentially expressed genes. This analysis revealed that many of these genes were associated with oxidative phosphorylation, steroid biosynthesis, glyceride metabolism, alanine, aspartic acid, and glutamate metabolism. Identifying these differentially expressed genes is a foundation for unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind growth and development. Additionally, it provides valuable gene data for future studies on the cloning and expression of growth-related genes and offers insights for subsequent biological research.