Ammonia stress induced transcriptional expression changes in the mature eggs of the Acipenser baerii

Ammonia stress has become a significant stress factor in sturgeon aquaculture. In this study, we found that exposure to different concentrations of ammonia stress affected the fourth stage of female sturgeon egg development, primarily causing rupture of the follicle membrane, adhesion of yolk granules, and damage to the surface structure. Transcriptome analysis revealed that ammonia exposure may enrich cellular compo-nents in the extracellular space, further disrupting the function of the extracellular matrix. Antioxidant gene expression revealed that antioxidant genes were significantly downregulated under ammonia stress, and gene expression of enzymes involved in steroidogenesis was suppressed. This suggests that high ammonia concentrations im-pair oocyte function by inducing oxidative stress and interfering with hormone syn-thesis. This result enables us to understand the effect of ammonia stress on sturgeon egg development from a molecular biological perspective, providing valuable insights for future sturgeon breeding and hatching efforts.