Effects of dietary protein to energy ratios on growth,body composition and digestive enzyme activities in Chinese mitten‐handed crab,Eriocheir sinensis

This study aimed to determine the optimal protein to energy ratio (P/E ratio) and evaluate the effect of dietary protein and lipid levels on growth performance, body composition and digestive enzymes activities in Chinese mitten‐handed crab, Eriocheir sinensis. Nine practical diets containing three levels both for protein (DP 30%, 35% and 40%) and lipid (DL 2%, 7% and 12%) with P/E ratios ranging from 13.69 to 19.79 mg KJ^?1 were fed to four replicates of crabs (3.39 ± 0.10 g) for 10 weeks. Weight gain increased significantly with the increase in DP level at each DL level. Moreover, weight gain increased in crabs fed with diets containing DL level from 2% to 12% and DP level from 30% to 35%. However, the diet containing 40% DP and 12% DL levels significantly decreased the growth performance and protein efficiency of the crabs. The whole crab and hepatopancreas lipid contents also increased as dietary lipid increased, but not dietary protein. The total protease activity increased significantly with the increase in dietary protein at each lipid level. The lipase activity was statistically comparable among different DL levels at each DP level. Taken together, the crab fed the diet containing 35% protein and 12% lipid levels with P/E 15.77 mg KJ^?1 revealed optimal growth, feed utilization efficiency and digestive enzymes activities. Moreover, our study indicated that the higher dietary lipid level at a relatively lower dietary protein level could provide protein sparing effect in Eriocheir sinensis.     

Using near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy to predict the digestible protein and digestible energy values of diets when fed to barramundi,Lates calcarifer

This study examined the potential of using near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict nutrient digestibility parameters (digestible protein and digestible energy) of compound diets when fed to barramundi. A series of 60 diets were assessed for their protein and energy digestibilities in a series of five experiments over a 5‐year period from 2009 to 2014. Considerable variance was observed in the digestibility parameters of diets across the experiments, providing a suitable range in diet digestible protein and digestible energy values from which to develop a NIRS calibration. Samples of the same diets were also scanned using a diode array near‐infrared spectrophotometer (DA‐NIRS). The spectra were obtained by the DA‐NIRS and were chemometrically calibrated against the digestible value data using multivariate analysis software. The results in terms of standard error of cross‐validation (SECV), residual prediction deviation (RPD) and correlation coefficient (R²) show good relationships (R² > 0.8) between the predicted and observed parameters for both the digestible protein and digestible energy parameters assessed. This study therefore demonstrates that it is possible to use NIRS technology to provide rapid estimates of the digestible protein and digestible energy values of compound diets for barramundi in near real time.     

杂草环境下转EPSPS基因大豆NZL06-698的生态适应性研究

为研究转EPSPS基因大豆NZL06-698在杂草环境中的生态适应性,试验设置杂草处理模拟野外环境,研究转基因大豆NZL06-698(GT698)的生存竞争能力以及外源EPSPS蛋白表达情况。结果表明:在相同处理下转基因大豆GT698的株高(R8期)、百粒重显著高于亲本大豆蒙豆12(MD12),但单株产量、单株籽粒数、结实率显著低于亲本大豆,说明外源基因的存在并未增强转基因大豆的生存竞争力,且转基因大豆在野外的生存竞争能力与亲本大豆相比较弱。试验注意到,杂草环境对转EPSPS基因大豆的生长有明显的限制作用,杂草处理下转基因大豆的单株产量、单株籽粒数、百粒重、结实率等指标均显著低于对照处理。ELISA检测结果表明,转基因大豆叶片及籽粒中外源EPSPS蛋白在杂草处理及对照中均正常表达,且两种处理下的EPSPS蛋白表达量无显著差异。以上结果表明杂草环境中转基因大豆的EPSPS蛋白正常表达,正常提供抗草甘膦性状,但是外源基因的存在并没有增加转基因大豆的生存竞争能力,且转基因大豆的生长受到杂草环境的显著抑制,由此得出结论:与亲本大豆相比,转EPSPS基因大豆NZL06-698在野外环境中生态适应能力较弱。     

草坪草屑的加工与利用

我国每年修剪草坪产生大量的草坪草屑,对草坪草屑的加工利用,可以对我国能源、饲料、肥料及蛋白资源的短缺起到一定的缓解作用,因此如何对草坪草屑进行合理利用已成为一项重要的研究课题。本文综述了草坪草屑能源化、饲料化、肥料化和深加工4种利用方式,详细介绍了草坪草屑在发酵生产能源、饲喂家畜、堆肥还坪以及加工叶蛋白等方面的研究进展,指出禾本科草坪草屑和豆科草坪草屑应采用不同的处理方式,对各加工方式的投入和产出也应进行进一步的量化核算,同时总结并展望了草坪草屑利用方式的发展前景。     

Immunostimulatory effects of dietary poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate in European sea bass postlarvae

The stable production of high‐quality fry in marine aquaculture is still hampered by unpredictable mortality caused by infectious diseases during larval rearing. Consequently, the development of new biocontrol agents is crucial for a viable aquaculture industry. The bacterial energy storage compound poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) has been shown to exhibit beneficial properties on aquatic organisms such as enhanced survival, growth, disease resistance and a controlling effect on the gastrointestinal microbiota. However, the effect of PHB on the developing immune system of fish larvae has so far not been investigated. In this study, the effect of feeding PHB‐enriched Artemia nauplii on survival, growth and immune response in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) postlarvae was examined. Amorphous PHB was administered to 28‐day‐old sea bass postlarvae over a period of 10 days. The survival and growth performance were monitored, and the expression of 29 genes involved in immunity, growth, metabolism and stress‐response was measured. While the expression of the insulin‐like growth factor 1 (igf1), an indicator of relative growth, was upregulated in response to feeding PHB, the larval survival and growth performance remained unaffected. After 10 days of PHB treatment, the expression of the antimicrobial peptides dicentracin (dic) and hepcidin (hep) as well as mhc class IIa and mhc class IIb was elevated in the PHB fed postlarvae. This indicates that PHB is capable of stimulating the immune system of fish early life stages, which may be the cause of the increased resistance to diseases and robustness observed in previous studies.     

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of the fatty acid delta 6 desaturase (FAD6) gene in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

The sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus), an important echinodermata, had high value in nutrition and medicine for its rich collagen, sulphated polysaccharide, glycosides and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The cDNA of the fatty acid desaturase gene in A. japonicus (AJFAD6) was cloned and was found to encode a desaturase with delta 6 FAD activity. Sequence analysis indicated that AJFAD6 included an open reading frame of 1392 bp, encoding 463 amino acids. AJFAD6 has all the conserved motifs found in other members of the FAD6 family, including an N‐terminal cytochrome b5 domain and three histidine‐rich regions. qRT‐PCR showed that AJFAD6 was expressed in all tissues tested during juvenile development and was mainly expressed in the respiratory tree at 150 days after adherence (150 days) and in the intestine at 100 days. Furthermore, AJFAD6 mRNA was also detected in the analysed adult tissues, with higher expression in the intestine and testis. Functional characterization of AJFAD6 in a recombinant yeast, Pichia pastoris, showed that AJFAD6 could catalyse exogenous linoleic acid (LA) and α‐linolenic acid (ALA) to produce γ‐linoleic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (STA), respectively, at conversion rates of 11.1% for LA to GLA and 3.4% for ALA to STA. Our results suggested that the biosynthetic pathway of PUFA existed in the sea cucumber, but endogenous production of eicosapentaenoic acid, arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid from either LA or ALA precursor appeared to be limited.     

Apparent digestibility coefficients of animal and plant feed ingredients for juvenile Pseudobagrus ussuriensis

A study was conducted to determine apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), lipid, gross energy, phosphorus and amino acids (AAs) from Peruvian fish meal (PFM), native fish meal (NFM), meat bone meal (MBM), dried daphnia meal (DDM), soybean meal (SBM), full‐fat soybean (FSBM), cottonseed meals (CSM), rapeseed meal (RSM) and corn gluten meal (CGM) for Pseudobagrus ussuriensis (7.8 ± 0.06 g). Test diets were formulated to contain a 70:30 mixture of reference diet to test ingredient with chromic oxide (5 g kg^–1) serving as the inert marker. ADCs of DM ranged from 49.94% (CGM) to 87.11% (PFM), the highest ADCs of DM were observed in PFM and the lowest was found in CGM. ADCs of CP in the test ingredients ranged from 74.92% (CGM) to 93.41% (SBM). ADCs of crude lipid ranged from 51.80% (CGM) to 94.07% (PFM) for fish. ADCs of energy ranged from 56.42% (CGM) to 90.09% (PFM). ADCs of phosphorus ranged from 21.81% (CSM) to 65.70% (PFM). AA availability for the test ingredients followed a similar pattern to ADCs of CP, in which values for PFM, NFM and MBM were generally higher (p < .05) than those of other protein ingredients. Among all plant meals, the AA availability values in SBM were higher (p < .05) than those in CGM, CSM and RSM. The availability of most AAs in CGM was the lowest (p < .05) among all tested ingredients. In conclusion, PFM and NFM are good sources of available protein and AAs. When fishmeal supply is limited, MBM and DDM are substitutes for fishmeal reduction in P. ussuriensis diets; at the same time, SBM and FSBM are also very acceptable protein feedstuffs. However, CSM, RSM and CGM could not be used at high levels in P. ussuriensis diets because of their inferior digestibilities.     

WSSV envelope protein VP51B links structural protein complexes and may mediate virus infection

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV), an enveloped double‐stranded DNA virus, is the causative agent of a disease that has led to severe mortalities of cultured shrimps in Taiwan and many other countries. In the previous study, Penaeus monodon chitin‐binding protein (CBP) and glucose transporter 1 (Glut1), two cell membrane proteins, were found to at least interact with other 10 WSSV envelope proteins including VP51B. These envelope proteins might form a protein complex. According to the known information, VP51B was used to identify its role in the protein complex. Western blotting of the intact viral particles and fractionation of the viral components confirmed that VP51B is one of WSSV envelope proteins. In this study, the protein–protein interaction between VP51B and other WSSV envelope proteins was identified by far‐western blot experiment and VP51B was found to interact with VP24, VP31, VP32, VP39B and VP41A. Furthermore, the in vivo neutralization experiment using recombinant VP51B plus with VP39B showed the best inhibition. These data indicate that VP51B participates in the WSSV protein complex and plays an important role in WSSV infection.     

A comparison of changes in stable isotope ratios in the epidermal mucus and muscle tissue of slow‐growing adult catfish

Although stable isotope analysis is a powerful tool for determining diet, migration patterns and the structure of food webs in aquatic systems, the slow response of isotopic ratios in the widely used muscle tissue often hampers this approach, particularly in slow‐growing or adult fishes. We conducted a diet‐switch experiment to compare the changes in the stable carbon isotope ratio (δ¹³C values) in the epidermal mucus and muscle tissue of five‐year‐old catfish (Silurus asotus). The isotope ratios in noninvasively sampled mucus changed more rapidly than those in the muscle tissue. As isotopic change in mucus was relatively rapid, this technique can be used over a finer timescale than traditional isotopic analyses using the muscle tissue. The isotopic change half‐life in our experimental condition was 200 days, which would not be short enough for some research purposes. Examining mucus along with the muscle would enable food habits of slow‐growing fishes to be determined over different timescales. However, the rate of isotopic change in the mucus was negatively affected by the size of fish and was slower than the previously reported rates in juvenile steelhead. These findings suggest that mucus turnover rates need to be determined prior to the field data interpretation.     

Polymerisation of gluten proteins in developing wheat grain as affected by desiccation

The breadmaking quality of wheat is affected by the composition of gluten proteins and the polymerisation of subunits that are synthesised and accumulated in developing wheat grain. The biological mechanisms and time course of these events during grain development are documented, but not widely confirmed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to monitor the accumulation of gluten protein subunits and the size distribution of protein aggregates during grain development. The effect of desiccation on the polymerisation of gluten proteins and the functional properties of gluten were also studied. The results showed that the size of glutenin polymers remained consistently low until yellow ripeness (YR), while it increased during grain desiccation after YR. Hence, this polymerisation process was presumed to be initiated by desiccation. A similar polymerisation event was also observed when premature grains were dried artificially. The composition of gluten proteins, the ratios of glutenin to gliadin and high molecular weight-glutenin subunits to low molecular weight-glutenin subunits, in premature grain after artificial desiccation showed close association with the size of glutenin polymers in artificially dried grain. Functional properties of gluten in these samples were also associated with polymer size after artificial desiccation.