Transcriptomes and molecular pathway analysis of the liver in the red-eared slider turtle Trachemys scripta elegans under chronic salinity stress

In order to understand the molecular mechanisms of salinity adaptation, high-throughput RNA-Seq was utilized to discover the gene expression profiles and pathways that responded to elevated salinity in the liver of T. s. elegans Overall design: Three turtles from each group were divided into three groups exposed to 0, 5, or 15 psu (practical salinity units) for 30 days, and sampled following a 24 h fast and anesthetized by storing at -20? cryo-anesthesia for 0.5-1 h.