Abstract
As the cheapest energy source, carbohydrates are used in fish feeds to improve physical quality and reduce catabolism of proteins and lipids. The liver is the primary organ for metabolism and is also an important site of immune regulation. Here, we investigated the effect of different dietary carbohydrate levels on growth and health by evaluating the liver transcriptome of Epinephelus akaara. In this study, E. akaara juveniles were fed diets containing few (0% corn starch), moderate (18% corn starch), and high (30% corn starch) levels of dietary carbohydrate. After an 8-week feeding trial, E. akaara fed 30% dietary carbohydrates exhibited poor growth performance compared with those fed 0% and 18% dietary carbohydrates (P > 0.05). Genes related to the immune system, including IL8, TLR9, CXCR4, CCL4, and NFκB inhibitor alpha, were over-expressed in E. akaara fed the highest level of carbohydrate (30%). This general over-expression could indicate activation of inflammatory processes in the liver. The liver transcriptome data of E. akaara reported here indicate that high carbohydrate level of diet can lead to poor growth and inflammatory immune response in E. akaara.
Highlights
Carbohydrates are the cheapest energy sources and the major compounds that make up organisms
The growth performance of E. akaara was measured by percentage weight gain (PWG)
We evaluated genes belonging to the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-system to show the relationship between growth and gene expression
Summary
Carbohydrates are the cheapest energy sources and the major compounds that make up organisms. If sufficient carbohydrate content is not provided in the diet, other nutrients such as proteins and lipid can be used for energy[8]; This could lead to an increase in cost and nutritional imbalances. It is important to supply an appropriate level of carbohydrates in aqua-feeds. Epinephelus akaara (Temminck and Schlegel, 1842) is an important marine carnivorous fish with a high market value in Asia, To date, few nutrient requirements have been investigated in E. akaara, except for appropriate level of proteins[31] and lipids[32]. We here focused on the liver transcriptome of E. akaara fed diets containing few (0%), moderate (18%), and high (30%) levels of carbohydrates using high-throughput sequencing to identify genes responsible for growth and immune system alterations
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