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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Experimental Endocrinology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1571111
This article is part of the Research TopicResponses to Chronic Stress in Vertebrate Animals: From Molecules to BehaviorView all articles
Molecular and Epigenetic Responses to Crowding Stress in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) skeletal muscle
Provisionally accepted
Daniela Aravena-Canales1,2
Valentina Valenzuela-Muñoz2,3
Cristian Gallardo-Escárate2,3Alfredo Molina1,2
Juan Antonio Valdés1,2*- 1Andres Bello University, Santiago, Chile
- 2Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research, University of Concepcion, Concepción, VIII Biobío Region, Chile
- 3University of Concepcion, Concepción, VIII Biobío Region, Chile
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Chronic stress is a critical challenge in fish aquaculture, adversely affecting growth, health, and overall productivity. Among the most significant chronic stressors in intensive farming is crowding, which triggers the release of cortisol, the primary stress hormone in fish. Cortisol re-allocates energy away from growth-related processes toward stress response mechanisms. Consequently, overcrowded fish often exhibit slower growth rates, and impaired skeletal muscle development. Understanding the mechanisms underlying crowding stress and their long-term effects, including epigenetic changes, is essential for optimizing farming conditions, and enhancing fish welfare. This study aims to characterize the physiological, transcriptomic, and epigenomic responses in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed for 30 days to high stocking densities. Crowding stress led to decreased weight in the high-density (HD) group. It also resulted in elevated cortisol levels, oxidative DNA damage, and protein carbonylation in skeletal muscle. Using RNAseq, we identified 4,050 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and through whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), we detected 11,672 differentially methylated genes (DMGs).Integrative analyses revealed 263 genes with a negative correlation between upregulated expression and downregulated methylation, primarily associated with autophagy, mitophagy, and the insulin signaling pathway. Conversely, 299 genes exhibited the reverse trend, mainly linked to ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling. This study offers the first detailed exploration of the molecular responses in skeletal muscle to crowding stress, integrating RNA-seq and WGBS analysis in rainbow trout, offering valuable information for improving aquaculture practices.
Keywords: Oxidative Stress, Aquaculture, methylome, Transcriptome, Growth
Received: 05 Feb 2025; Accepted: 27 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Aravena-Canales, Valenzuela-Muñoz, Gallardo-Escárate, Molina and Valdés. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Juan Antonio Valdés, Andres Bello University, Santiago, Chile
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