Transcriptomic response in gills of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed garlic, carvacrol and thymol essential oils (EOs) additive

Explore the underlying mechanisms-of-action of the essential oils diet in gills of gilthead seabream. Transcriptomic analysis was conducted in gilthead sea bream (S. aurata) gills fed control standard diet or an experimental diet containing 0.5% inclusion of a microencapsulated additive composed of a blend of garlic, carvacrol, and thymol synthetic essential oils during 65 days (n=8 per dietary treatment; N total=16 fish) in order to determine the differences on gene expression level between these two dietary strategies at gill-specific level. The experimental design included two conditions: (1) fish fed basal diet with no EOs added (control); (2) fish fed 0.5% inclusion of the EOs additive. Total RNA were extracted invidually and then total RNA samples were grouped into 3 pools of 4 fish for each condition. The transcriptomic analysis was done following a reference design using the control diet group as reference.