Effect of Photoperiod on Feeding,Intraperitoneal Fat,and Insulin‐like Growth Factor‐I in Sunshine Bass*

The length of the photoperiod has been implicated as affecting growth of sunshine bass. This study was done to determine if photoperiod length might affect insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I), which is a major hormonal regulator of growth in fish. Growth, feed conversion, peritoneal fat content, and plasma concentrations of IGF‐I of sunshine bass were compared on fish held on a short (8 h) or a long (16 h) photoperiod, or after the fish were switched from one photoperiod to the other. Fish were fed daily to apparent satiation for up to 5 wk and were not fed for the last 2 wk of the experiment. Body weight and intraperitoneal fat content increased for the first 2 wk of the experiment and then remained steady for the remainder of the experiment, and feed consumption decreased from 3.5% during the first 2 wk to about 1.5% for the second 2 wk and finally to only 1% during the last week of feeding. Plasma IGF‐I concentrations fell steadily during the entire experiment and was at the lowest level during the last 2 wk when the fish were not fed. There was no consistent effect of the photoperiod in any of the conditions; however, feeding and IGF‐I concentrations were affected by fish density.     

Mitochondrial NAD(P)-malic enzyme from herring skeletal muscle

Mitochondrial NAD(P)-dependent malic enzyme [EC 1.1.1.39, L-malate: NAD⁺ oxidoreductase (decarboxylating)] was purified from herring skeletal muscle to a specific activity of 8.2 mol/min/mg. The purification procedure involved chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, Red Agarose and a Sephacryl S-300 with a final recovery of 38% of enzyme activity. This enzyme catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of malate in the presence of either NAD or NADP in the presence of Mn²⁺. Some kinetic characteristics of this enzyme were determined. The pH optimum of activity is 7.0. ATP was shown to be a competitive inhibitor with malate. The inhibition by ATP displayed hyperbolic competitive kinetics with a K_i (ATP) of 0.28 mM in the presence of NAD and 0.75 mM in the presence of NADP. Fumarate reversed ATP inhibition.In vivo, regulation of NAD(P)-dependent malic enzyme might respond to changing levels of mitochondrial ATP and fumarate with the enzyme undergoing kinetic activation by an increase in the concentration of mitochondrial fumarate which could reverse enzyme inhibition by ATP.     

Comparison of acid-detergent lignin,alkaline-peroxide lignin,and acid-detergent insoluble ash as internal markers for predicting fecal output and digestibilily by caltie offered bermudagrass hays of varying nutrient composition

Background： The potential for acid-detergent insoluble ash （ADIA）, alkaline-peroxide lignin （APL）, and acid-detergent lignin （ADL） to predict fecal output （FO） and dry matter digestibility （DMD） by cattle offered bermudagrass [Cynodon doctylon （L） Pers.] hays of different qualities was evaluated. Eight ruminally cannulated cows （594 ± 35.5 kg） were allocated randomly to 4 hay diets： low （L）, medium low （ML）, medium high （MH）, and high （H） crude protein （CP） concentration （79, 111,131, and 164 g CP/kg on a DM basis, respectively）. Diets were offered in 3 periods with 2 diet replicates per period and were rotated across cows between periods. Cows were individually fed 20 g DM/kg of body weight in equal feedings at 08：00 and 16：00 h for a 10-d adaptation followed by a 5-d total fecal collection. Actual DM intake （DMI）, DMD, and FO were determined based on hay offered, ort, and feces excreted. These components were then analyzed for ADL, APL, and ADIA concentration to determine marker recovery and marker-based estimates of FO and DMD. Results： Forage DMI was affected by diet （P = 0.02）, and DMI from MH and H was greater （P 〈 0.05） than from L. Apparent DMD tended （P = 0.08） to differ among diets while FO （P = 0.20） was not affected by diet treatments. Average ADL recovery （1.16） was greater （P 〈 0.05） than that of ADIA （1.03） and APL （1.06）, but ADIA and APL did not differ （P = 0.42）. Estimates of FO and DMD derived using APL and ADIA were not different （P≥0.05） from total fecal collection while those using ADL differed （P 〈 0.05）. There was no diet by marker interaction （P≥ 0.22） for either FO or DMD. Conclusion： Acid-detergent insoluble ash and APL accurately predicted FO and DMD of cattle fed bermudagrass hay of varying nutrient composition. These internal markers may facilitate studies involving large numbers of animals and forages. Results from such studies may be used to develop improve     

Reporting standards for biofilter performance studies

The development of standardized rating and design procedures for biological filters will require that filter performance be evaluated and reported in a standardized manner. This article recommends draft reporting standards for biofilter performance studies. It is important that critical parameters are defined and reported in a standard manner, both in terms of definition, variable names, and units. Depending on the type and scale of an experiment, reporting of certain parameters will be either mandatory or optional. Basic principles of experimental design, statistical analysis, and randomization must be followed. Experimental protocols are recommended to ensure the accuracy of measured or computed parameters. The development of this reporting standard is being organized through the Standards and Reporting Committee of the Aquaculture Engineering Society (AES). It is anticipated that a revised version of these standards will be incorporated into the Guide to Authors for Aquacultural Engineering.     

Using Experimental Microcosms in Shrimp Research: The Growth-Enhancing Effect of Shrimp Pond Water

After preliminary six week experiments showed that shrimp pond effluent from an intensive culture growout pond had the capacity to nearly double shrimp growth in laboratory tanks, an 18 day experiment was designed to determine if similar results occurred in the presence of high quality feeds. The results presented here corroborate the hypothesis that autochthonous factors in shrimp pond water stimulate shrimp growth. These results revealed that performance of currently available shrimp feeds is greatly improved in the presence of pond effluent, regardless of feed quality. Increased feed performance did not appear to be an artifact of supplemental feed availability in pond effluent. The implications from these experiments are that, even in intensive culture systems (above 40 shrimp per m²), in-situ sources of nutrition play an important role in shrimp growth.