Heat stress induced alternative splicing in catfish as determined by transcriptome analysis

In this study, existing RNA-Seq datasets were utilized to characterize the change of alternative splicing in catfish following heat treatment. Heat-tolerant and -intolerant catfish were differentiated by the time to lost equilibrium after heat stress. With heat stress, alternative splicing was generally increased. In heat-intolerant fish, the thermal stress induced 29.2% increases in alternative splicing events and 25.8% increases in alternatively spliced genes. A total of 282, 189, and 44 differential alternative splicing (DAS) events were identified in control-intolerant, control-tolerant, and intolerant-tolerant comparisons, corresponding to 252, 171, and 42 genes, respectively. Gene ontology analyses showed that genes involved in the molecular function of RNA binding were significantly enriched in DAS gene sets after heat stress in both heat-intolerant and -tolerant catfish compared with the control group. Similar results were also observed in the DAS genes between heat-intolerant and -tolerant catfish, and the biological process of RNA splicing was also enriched in this comparison, indicating the involvement of RNA splicing-related genes underlying heat tolerance. This is the first comprehensive study of alternative splicing in response to heat stress in fish species, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms of responses to the abiotic stress.Graphical abstract
Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research