Table 1. Tissue gene markers used in the experiment, their functional role and expected response, as well as their detailed characteristics.

Gene	Functional role	Expected response	Accession number	Forward primer	Reverse primer	Amplicon size	PCR efficiency
Liver tissue	Oxidative stress, cellular stress
Mn SOD	Manganese superoxide dismutase	Down regulated	DY718412	ATCACAGCCTGCCCTAATCAA	CGTAGTCGGGTCGGACATTC	121	1.84
HSP70	Heat shock protein 70	Down regulated	C169R048	GTGCAGGCTGCCATCTTAGC	CATGACCCCTCCAGCTGTCT	108	2.06
	Energy metabolism
IGFBP1B	Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1B	Up regulated	AY662657	GAGGACCAGGGACAAGAGAAAGT	GCACCCTCATTTTTGGTGTCA	128	1.83
	Stress response
GRP78	78 kDa glucose-regulated protein precursor (GRP 78)	Up regulated	AM042306	CCCCAGATCGAGGTCACCTT	TCCTCAGGCGTCAGACGATT	128	2.01
	Lipid and steroid metabolism
HMGCR	3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzymeA reductase gene	Up regulated	Contig1955 _Atlantic_salmon	GGTCCTGTGATTAGGTGCCC	AAACCTGCTGGTGTGGTCAA	114	1.98
ACTB	Beta-actin	Reference gene	BG933897	CCAAAGCCAACAGGGAGAA	AGGGACAACACTGCCTGGAT	91	1.88
EF1AB	Elongation factor 1 alpha B	Reference gene	BG933853	TGCCCCTCCAGGATGTCTAC	CACGGCCCACAGGTACTG	59	2.00
UBA52	ubiquitin-60S ribosomal protein L40	Reference gene	GO050814	TCAAGGCCAAGATCCAGGAT	CGCAGCACAAGATGCAGAGT	139	2.01
Heart and skin tissues	Stress signaling
IERG2	Immediate early response gene 2		NM_001140121.1	CCAAGCGTTAACCGAACAGT	CTCGGGAGGCGTACAGTTTA	122	1.87
JUNB	Jun B proto-oncogene		NM_001139901.1	CTATCGGAACCAAAGCCTCA	GGATGATCAATCGCTCCAGT	122	1.83
	Inflammation & muscle contraction
TNF1A	Tumor necrosis factor 1 alpha		DQ787157.1	AGGTTGGCTATGGAGGCTGT	TCTGCTTCAATGTATGGTGGG	400	1.73
INOS	Inducible nitric oxide synthase		AF088999.1	ACAGACATTGGCCCAGAGAC	CTCCATTCCCAAAGGTGCTA	140	2.01
RYR1	Ryanodine receptor isoform 1		DW541352	CTCTACCGGGTGGTCTTTGA	ACCTGCTCTTGTTGGTCTCG	119	1.97
	Mucosal & epithelial integrity
MUC5	Mucin-5B-like		XM_014188489.1	TACCAGGAGCCAGGCAGTTG	GCTGCACTGCTTCTGTGACC	145	2.02
MMP9	Matrix metalloproteinase-9		NM_001140457.1	CTGGCGCAGATATTTTGGAT	CATGGCTTTTGAGCCAGTTC	133	2.04
EF1A	Elongation factor 1 alpha	Reference gene	NM_001123629.1	CACCACCGGCCATCTGATCTACAA	TCAGCAGCCTCCTTCTCGAACTTC	78	1.91