This study evaluated the effects of a commercial prebiotic, Immunogen, on feed utilization, growth rate, immunity promotion and carcass composition of the common carp Cyprinus carpio fingerlings. The fingerlings were adopted for 2 weeks and then reared in triplicate groups in 250-l tanks (n = 15 per tank with average initial weights of 11.12 ± 0.55 g). The fish fed on five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets containing different levels of Immunogen (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2.5 g prebiotic/kg diet) to apparent satiation thrice a day for 8 weeks. Weight gain showed no differences among the groups fed different Immunogen levels. Both feed efficiency ratio and protein efficiency ratio significantly (p < 0.05) increased with increasing Immunogen levels from 0.5 to 1.5 g/kg diet. The highest protein content (p < 0.05) was found in the fish fed a diet containing 2.5 g/kg prebiotic. Haematological parameters and plasma total protein concentration were also significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the fingerlings fed diets containing 1.5 and 2.5 g/kg prebiotic in relation to the control. The control fish contained the highest mean of total bacterial counts. The lowest mean (p < 0.05) of total bacterial counts was observed in the fish fed the diet containing 2.5 g/kg Immunogen. The present study reveals that a dietary Immunogen supplementation from 1 to 1.5 g/kg is capable to improve the feed efficiency and growth performance of C. carpio fingerlings as well as their resistance to A. hydrophila infection.
BACKGROUND: Seafood is an important constituent of the human diet. In Iran, Indian white shrimp (Fenneropenaeus indicus) is the major cultured shrimp species as a result of market demand, local availability and growth rate. It is mainly reared using commercial feed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing 50% of the fish oil by vegetable oils in shrimp feed on total lipid, fatty acid composition and lipid oxidation of shrimp muscle.
Apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, is a critical component in maintaining homeostasis and growth in all tissues and plays a significant role in immunity and cytotoxicity. In contrast to necrosis or traumatic cell death, apoptosis is a well-controlled and vital process characterized mainly by cytoplasmic shrinkage, chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, membrane blebbing and apoptotic bodies. Our understanding of apoptosis is partly based on observations in invertebrates but mainly in mammals. Despite the great advantages of fish models in studying vertebrate development and diseases and the tremendous interest observed in recent years, reports on apoptosis in fish are still limited. Although apoptotic machinery is well conserved between aquatic and terrestrial organisms throughout the history of evolution, some differences exist in key components of apoptotic pathways. Core parts of apoptotic machinery in fish are virtually expressed as equivalent to the mammalian models. Some differences are, however, evident, such as the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis including lack of a C-terminal region in the Fas-associated protein with a death domain in fish. Aquatic species inhabit a complex and highly fluctuating environment, making these species good examples to reveal features of apoptosis that may not be easily investigated in mammals. Therefore, in order to gain a wider view on programmed cell death in fish, interactions between the main environmental factors, chemicals and apoptosis are discussed in this review. It is indicated that apoptosis can be induced in fish by exposure to environmental stressors during different stages of the fish life cycle.
Five isonitrogenous (420 g kg−1 crude protein) and isoenergetic (16.3 kJ g−1) practical diets were formulated to contain fish oil (FO), Kilka fish oil (KFO), linseed (LO), canola (CO) and soybean (SBO) oils fed to juveniles of three‐spot gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus) (initial weight 1 ± 0.03 g) three times per day to apparent satiation for 14 weeks. Results showed the mean final weight of brooders was not significantly affected by dietary oil sources. Specific growth rate for fish fed in SBO and CO diets was statistically higher than for fish fed diet LO. Fish fed diets CO and KFO showed in significantly higher GSI value compared with other diets. Absolute fecundity was greatest in fish fed diets KFO and CO, which significantly differ with other treatments. Except for KFO diet, high fertilization percentages (87.3–93.45%) were observed in other treatments. Fatty acid composition of muscle and egg was found to be positively correlated with their respective dietary lipid sources. High levels of EPA, DHA and n‐3 HUFA in brooders fed diet FO negatively affect egg quality parameters. Therefore, the results demonstrated that vegetable oil‐based diets (CO, SBO and LO, respectively) can positively affect on growth performance of juveniles compared with fish oil‐based diets. Furthermore, CO and LO diets, respectively, showed positive effects on reproductive performance in T. trichopterus compared with fish oil diets during experimental period under controlled conditions.
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