Effects of Taurine Supplementation on Growth, Feed Utilization, Antioxidant Capacity, and Intestinal Microflora of Largemouth Bass Fed a Low Fish Meal Diet

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of taurine supplementation on feed intake, growth, feed utilization, body composition, waste output, hepatic antioxidant enzymes, and intestinal microflora of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides that were fed a low fish meal diet. Three isoproteic (49% crude protein) and isolipidic (9.5% crude lipid) diets were formulated: one diet contained 40% fish meal and served as the control (FM diet), and 60% of the fish meal in the FM diet was replaced by soybean meal either without taurine supplementation (SBM diet) or with 0.5% taurine supplementation (SBM+T diet). Lower feed intake, final body weight, weight gain, condition factor, and hepatosomatic index and a higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) were found in fish that received the SBM diet compared to fish that were fed the FM diet, but no significant difference was found in feed intake, final body weight, weight gain, FCR, condition factor, or hepatosomatic index between fish in the FM and SBM+T diet groups. No significant differences were found in nitrogen retention efficiency, body composition, nitrogen waste, or activities of total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase among fish fed the different test diets, and the alpha diversity of intestinal microbiota also did not differ among diet groups. The abundance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes increased while the abundance of Fusobacteria decreased in the SBM diet group relative to the FM diet group; in contrast, dietary taurine (SBM+T diet) restored the abundance of Proteobacteria to a level similar to that in fish receiving the FM diet. This study suggests that the dietary fish meal level for Largemouth Bass can be reduced from 40% to 16% if soybean meal is used as an alternative protein with 0.5% taurine supplementation.Fish meal is characterized by high prices and finite resources, and replacement of fish meal with alternative protein sources promotes the development of fish aquaculture toward a sustainable orientation (Naylor et al. 2009). Soybean meal has attracted constant attention due to its high protein digestibility, huge global production, and reasonable market price (Hardy 2010). It has been demonstrated that dietary fish meal can be partly replaced by soybean meal in some carnivorous fish species like Japanese Seabass Lateolabrax japonicus (Zhang et al. 2018), European Bass Dicentrarchus labrax (Bonvini et al. 2018), Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Yes ¸ilayer and Kaymak 2020), Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides (Li et al. 2021b), and Spotted Seabass Lateolabrax

Taurine improves the growth performance, health status and liver histopathology of meagre (Argyrosomus regius) fed a reduced fish meal diet

“…In previous studies, the condition factors (CF) of 12.5 g largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) decreased with the further ratios of plant protein in the diets (Wu et al, 2021;Ren et al, 2022). These studies supported the CF results recorded in our trial.…”

Dietary High Glycinin Reduces Growth Performance and Impairs Liver and Intestinal Health Status of Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

“…Interestingly, like SBM diets, 10% glycinin diets generally promoted the abundance of phylum Proteobacteria in the intestine of orange-spotted grouper vs. FM diets. The increased intestinal Proteobacteria abundance was also observed in largemouth bass fed SBM diets [ 62 ] and in hybrid grouper fed 10% glycinin diets [ 40 ]. Proteobacteria has many pathogenic bacteria that can secrete a large amount of lipopolysaccharides [ 63 ], and higher lipopolysaccharides levels exacerbate stroke by activating NF-κB and thus produce large amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines [ 64 ].…”

Effects of dietary garlic (Allium sativum) oil on growth performance, haemato‐biochemical and histopathology of cypermethrin‐intoxicated Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

“…Dietary factors may also influence the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). An investigation by Ren et al (2022) demonstrated that the inclusion of taurine supplementation in largemouth bass diet resulted in a decrease in hepatosomatic index (HSI). The observed decrease in HSI among fish, which received taurine supplementation, could be attributed to liver function and reduced stress levels (Ren et al, 2022).…”

“…An investigation by Ren et al (2022) demonstrated that the inclusion of taurine supplementation in largemouth bass diet resulted in a decrease in hepatosomatic index (HSI). The observed decrease in HSI among fish, which received taurine supplementation, could be attributed to liver function and reduced stress levels (Ren et al, 2022). In the present study, the comparison of G1 and G2 reveals an increase in HSI within the cypermethrin-exposed group.…”