Potential of refrigerated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus used as food for Artemia franciscana

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus after refrigerated storage (4°C) and examine its potential as food for Artemia franciscana. Non-axenic semicontinuous cultures of S. elongatus were maintained at 4°C for 8 weeks. In our bioassay, we fed A. franciscana with refrigerated S. elongatus and fresh cultures of the diatom Chaetoceros muelleri as a control. The S. elongatus cultures could be refrigerated for up to 8 weeks without loss of its viability or alteration in its growth rate, cell size, and proximate composition. Fresh and eight week-refrigerated cultures of S. elongatus were similar with regard to fatty acid profiles. Significant differences in fatty acid profiles were found between refrigerated S. elongatus and fresh C. muelleri cultures. Vibrio bacteria were not detected in any of the S. elongatus cultures (fresh or refrigerated) or fresh cultures C. muelleri. This work demonstrated that refrigerated S. elongatus can be used to feed A. franciscana, maintaining similar growth rates and proximate composition compared with fresh C. muelleri cultures as feed. Thus, S. elongatus has potential aquaculture use as feed for A. franciscana.

From the sea to aquafeed: A perspective overview

“…In the early stages of production, larvae of aquaculture organisms require essential nutrients such as n − 3 long‐chain PUFAs (such as EPA and DHA), so live food organisms, as such as rotifers, nematodes or Artemia , must be enriched prior to larval feeding, using, for instance, marine bacteria or marine bacteria‐sourced products 142 . As an example, marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus is used as food for Artemia franciscana 143 . Other examples can be mentioned, as the use of heterotrophic marine bacteria to improve the survival, population growth and nauplii production of the copepod Apocyclops dengizicus , using a low‐cost waste‐based diet 144 ; and the incorporation of the marine bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum in the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis diet to increase protein and fatty‐acids yields 145 .…”

“…142 As an example, marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus is used as food for Artemia franciscana. 143 Other examples can be mentioned, as the use of heterotrophic marine bacteria to improve the survival, population growth and nauplii production of the copepod Apocyclops dengizicus, using a low-cost waste-based diet 144 ; and the incorporation of the marine bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum in the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis diet to increase protein and fatty-acids yields. 145 Marine bacteria can moreover be relevant in digestibility, another major milestone in aquaculture feed.…”