Gene expression profiling of white bass when fed fish meal or fish meal replacement diets

White bass (Morone chrysops) are a popular sportfish throughout the southern United States, and one parent of the commercially successful hybrid striped bass (M. chrysops x M. saxatilis). Currently, white bass are cultured using diets formulated for other carnivorous fish, such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) or hybrid striped bass and contain a significant percentage of marine fish meal. Since there are no studies regarding the utilization of alternative proteins in this species, we evaluated global gene expression of white bass fed diets in which fish meal was partially or totally replaced by various combinations of soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, canola meal, soy protein concentrate, wheat gluten, or a commercial protein blend (Pro-Cision). Significant differential expressed genes and gene ontology of pairwise comparisons between control diet and each test diet are presented and discussed. Overall design: A total of 54 liver tissue samples from white bass were used in this study. Juvenile fish (approximately 40 g each) were placed in replicate tanks (n=3) and fed either a control or test diet over a 60-day period. Then, three fish from each tank (n=9 total per control or test diet) were collected and liver extracted for RNA-seq.