Effects of selenium on the growth and immune gene functions of red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clakii)

Selenium is a widely used essential micronutrients in aquaculture, but its excessive effects on crayfish growth parameters and immune system are still unclear. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of selenium concentration in the soil, muscle, fatty acid profile, and gene expression of crayfish cultured in rice co-culture (CRC) model fed with commercial feed for 3 months in three locations of Guangxi Province. For this purpose, the soil samples of the three locations were collected and analyzed with the muscles of crayfish harvested were analyzed for selenium concentration. The Agilent Technology (7800 ICP-MS) was used to analyze selenium levels in soil, as well as muscle and fatty acid profiles. Additionally, gene expression profiling was conducted using qPCR, along with transcriptome analysis. On the one hand, we observed increased selenium concentrations in soil and muscle samples with significant differences ( P