Comprehensive analyses of gene expression and alternative splicing to partially reveal the mechanism of crowding stress-inhibited intestinal development of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)

Crowding stress (CS) is an inevitable abiotic stressor in intensified aquaculture, known to significantly impair fish species by compromising their growth performance. Our study indicated that CS hindered both the growth performance and intestinal development of largemouth bass. The growth performance of fish species is intricately linked to their intestinal development. To explore the underlying mechanism, we conducted a transcriptome analysis to elucidate the detrimental impact of crowding stress on intestinal development in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). We identified a total of 330 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the CS group. Subsequent gene ontology (GO) term and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses revealed that a majority of these DEGs were significantly enriched in the cell cycle process (P