Effects of dietary arginine and lysine levels on growth performance and biochemical parameters of juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

ABSTRACT: To investigate the effects of disproportionate levels of dietary arginine and lysine on juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus , growth performance and biochemical parameters were evaluated by feeding five test diets, comprising different levels of arginine and lysine, to triplicate groups of juveniles (initial bodyweight 1.85 g) for 40 days. Crystalline amino acids were supplemented to test diets to correspond to the amino acid pattern found in the whole body protein of the Japanese flounder, except for arginine and lysine. After the feeding trials, plasma arginine, lysine and urea levels, excreted ammonia-N, and liver arginase activity were analysed. Survival, specific growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, and apparent protein retention were adversely affected ( P  <   0.05) by the deficiency in dietary arginine or lysine concentrations. An excess of either lysine or arginine in the diet did not depress growth when the diets contained adequate levels of either arginine or lysine, proving that there is no evidence for an arginine–lysine antagonism. Results for plasma arginine, lysine and urea levels, excreted ammonia, and liver arginase activity also demonstrated that Japanese flounder juveniles are not sensitive to excess dietary levels of lysine and arginine.     

Comparison of early life history stages of the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians: Effects of microalgal diets on growth and biochemical composition

The culture of bay scallops, Argopecten irradians, is limited by a reliable and affordable supply of spat and the ability to ensure that animals attain market size within a single growing season. The main goals of our study were thus: (1) to develop growth-optimizing algal diets for implementation in hatcheries, and (2) to identify and compare bay scallop postlarval and juvenile dietary requirements, especially of lipids and fatty acids, which if met may enhance production. Nutritional needs of postlarval bay scallops (present study) are compared with those of sea scallops, Placopecten magellanicus, offered the same diets in a previous companion study. To this end, postlarval (initial shell height, SH = 240 μm) and juvenile (initial SH = 10 mm) bay scallops were offered 6–7 microalgal diet combinations at 20 °C, for 3 weeks. A similar growth ranking among diets was observed between the two developmental stages. A combination diet of Pavlova sp. (CCMP 459) and Chaetoceros muelleri was far superior to any other diet tested, yielding growth rates of 58 and 357 μm day^− 1 which were 65% and 25% higher than the next highest performing diet of Tetraselmis striata/C. muelleri in postlarvae and juveniles, respectively. The T. striata/C. muelleri diet, which is limited in the n-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), yielded very poor growth of sea scallop postlarvae in a prior study, indicating that bay scallops may have less stringent requirements for DHA than sea scallops. The Pav 459/C. muelleri diet, which also supported the highest growth of sea scallop postlarvae, is characterized by elevated levels of the n-6 fatty acids, arachidonic (AA) in C. muelleri and 4,7,10,13,16-docosapentaenoic (DPA) in Pav 459. The two diets deficient in AA and n-6 DPA, Pavlova lutheri/Thalassiosira weissflogii and P. lutheri/Fragilaria familica, yielded the lowest growth rates in both bay scallop postlarvae and juveniles. Tissue enrichment of these two fatty acids relative to the diet, as well as overall enrichment in ∑n-6 fatty acids was observed across developmental stages and dietary treatments. A similar pattern has previously been observed in sea scallop postlarvae, suggesting a dietary requirement for n-6 fatty acids in pectinids that has often been overlooked in the past.     

Properties of scallop mantle collagen: its content,tissue distribution and thermal behavior

ABSTRACT:   To obtain fundamental information for the effective use of scallop Patinopecten yessoensis mantle, which is one of the underutilized marine resources. Some properties of collagen contained in the mantle were examined by chemical and histochemical techniques. Collagen content in the mantle varied annually, ranging from 0.98 to 1.72% of wet tissue, 7.7 to 12.6% of dry tissue and 13.5 to 26.5% of total protein, being relatively in high level of collagen content of invertebrate muscles. Collagen fiber was densely distributed in the inner connective tissue matrix of the mantle pallial, in contrast to the inner fold part which was rich in muscle fibers. The collagen contained in the crude collagen fraction (residue after alkali extraction), prepared from the mantle, was revealed to have considerably low solubility on hot-water extraction, constantly less than 20% of the total collagen at the temperatures in the range of 20–90°C.     

Thyroid hormone deficiency in abnormal larvae of the Japanese flounder <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paralichthys olivaceus</Emphasis>

ABSTRACT:   In large-scale rearing of juveniles of the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, a certain morphological abnormality occurred spontaneously in 4% of the fish. These fish showed a slight but clearly different appearance from any developmental stage of this species, and did not settle when all the other juveniles in the same tank completed metamorphosis and had settled. From comparisons of external and internal structures between the normal and the abnormal fish, the abnormality was attributed to unbalanced progress of metamorphosis, mainly due to metamorphic stasis. The thyroid of the abnormal fish was apparently activated morphologically. In addition, serum thyroxine (T4) concentrations in the abnormal fish were reduced to less than 1/10 of that of normal fish. After 14 days of T4 treatment (0.1 p.p.m) of the abnormal fish, all the abnormal characteristics disappeared, and the fish recovered to normal, suggesting normal responsiveness to thyroid hormones in peripheral tissues, whereas thiourea treatment (30 p.p.m., 14 days) further delayed metamorphosis. These results suggest that these abnormal fish were suffering from thyroid hormone deficiency, and were unable to secrete a sufficient amount of thyroid hormone to complete metamorphosis.     

日本鳗鲡脾脏抗菌肽抗菌活性检测方法的比较

本试验旨在建立一种在日本鳗鲡脾脏抗菌肽分离纯化过程中简便、灵敏的检测其抗菌活性的方法。试验以日本鳗鲡脾脏分子质量小于10 ku的蛋白质为抗菌肽样品,选择琼脂板孔穴扩散法和微孔液体培养法2种传统方法及微量液体培养法为检测方法,比较这3种方法在抗菌肽对3种鳗鲡常见致病菌株(迟钝爱德华菌、气单胞菌、嗜水气单胞菌)抗菌活性检测中的灵敏度和优缺点。结果表明:与琼脂板孔穴扩散法及微孔液体培养法相比,微量液体培养法简便、易于观察结果,具有最高的灵敏度且样品用量最少,适合在鳗鲡脾脏抗菌肽分离纯化过程中跟踪检测抗菌活性,尤其适合分离纯化后期获得微量单一样品抗菌活性的检测。由此得出,微量液体培养法适用于检测日本鳗鲡脾脏抗菌肽的抗菌活性。     

日本农业女性参与农业及农村发展的现状与分析

日本农业就业人口的半数以上是女性,女性在担负着操持家务、育儿和赡养老人的同时,在农业经营以及农村第二、第三产业方面发挥着重要的作用。而且近年来涌现在农产品加工、销售、流通、观光农园、农家饭庄等与"食"文化相关领域的农村女性呈增长态势,对区域农业的多元化发展和农村的活化方面做出了积极的贡献。中国应该借鉴日本的经验,有意识地创造有利于发挥和释放女性能力的就业环境,不断拓展女性在农业、农村的活动领域,促进当地农业、农村经济的发展。