Effects of dietary manipulation on compensatory growth of juvenile genetically improved farmed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Coding and Noncoding Genes Involved in Atrophy and Compensatory Muscle Growth in Nile Tilapia

Improvements in growth-related traits reduce fish time and production costs to reach market size. Feed deprivation and refeeding cycles have been introduced to maximize aquaculture profits through compensatory growth. However, the molecular compensatory growth signature is still uncertain in Nile tilapia. In this study, fish were subjected to two weeks of fasting followed by two weeks of refeeding. The growth curve in refed tilapia was suggestive of a partial compensatory response. Transcriptome profiling of starved and refed fish was conducted to identify genes regulating muscle atrophy and compensatory growth. Pairwise comparisons revealed 5009 and 478 differentially expressed (differential) transcripts during muscle atrophy and recovery, respectively. Muscle atrophy appears to be mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy/lysosome systems. Autophagy-related 2A, F-box and WD repeat domain containing 7, F-box only protein 32, miR-137, and miR-153 showed exceptional high expression suggesting them as master regulators of muscle atrophy. On the other hand, the muscle compensatory growth response appears to be mediated by the continuous stimulation of muscle hypertrophy which exceeded normal levels found in control fish. For instance, genes promoting ribosome biogenesis or enhancing the efficiency of translational machinery were upregulated in compensatory muscle growth. Additionally, myogenic microRNAs (e.g., miR-1 and miR-206), and hypertrophy-associated microRNAs (e.g., miR-27a-3p, miR-29c, and miR-29c) were reciprocally expressed to favor hypertrophy during muscle recovery. Overall, the present study provided insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating muscle mass in fish. The study pinpoints extensive growth-related gene networks that could be used to inform breeding programs and also serve as valuable genomic resources for future mechanistic studies.

Exploring the impacts of different fasting and refeeding regimes on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.): growth performance, histopathological study, and expression levels of some muscle growth-related genes

The current study investigated how different fasting and refeeding regimes would impact Nile tilapia growth performance, histopathological examination, and gene expression of myostatin, myogenin, GH, IGF-1, and NPYa. Nile tilapia fish (n = 120) were randomly allocated into four groups, including the control group fed on a basal diet for 6 weeks (F6), group A starved for 1 week and then refed for 5 weeks (S1F5), group B starved for 2 weeks and then refed for 4 weeks (S2F4), while group C starved for 4 weeks and then refed for 2 weeks (S4F2). Fasting provoked a decrease in body weight coincided with more extended starvation periods. Also, it induced muscle and liver histological alterations; the severity was correlated with the length of fasting periods. Gene expression levels of GH, MSTN, MYOG, and NPYa were significantly increased, while IGF1 was markedly depressed in fasted fish compared to the control group. Interestingly, refeeding after well-planned short fasting period (S1F5) modulated the histopathological alterations. To some extent, these changes were restored after refeeding. Restored IGF-I and opposing fasting expression profiles of the genes mentioned above thus recovered weights almost like the control group and achieved satisfactory growth compensation. Conversely, refeeding following more extended fasting periods failed to restore body weight. In conclusion, refeeding after fasting can induce a compensatory response. Still, the restoration capacity is dependent on the length of fasting and refeeding periods through exhibiting differential morphological structure and expressions pattern for muscle and growth-related genes.

Under stress conditions, pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus modulates the metabolic allostatic load even after Dolops carvalhoi challenge to maintain self-protection mechanisms

Fish metabolic allostatic dynamics, when animal present physiological modifications that can be strategies to survive, are important for promoting changes to ensure whole body self-protection and survival in chronic states of stress. To determine the impact of sequential stressors on pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus), fish were subjected to two trials of stressful treatments, administration of exogenous dietary cortisol, and parasite challenge. The first experiment consisted of a two-day acute stress trial and the second, an eight-day chronic stress trial, and after both experiments, fish parasite susceptibility was assessed with the ectoparasite Dolops carvalhoi challenge. Physiological changes in response to acute trial were observed in glycogen, cortisol, glucose, osmolarity, sodium, calcium, chloride, potassium, hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cells and mean corpuscular volume, and white blood cell (P < 0.05), whereas response to chronic trial were observed in glycogen, osmolarity, potassium, calcium, chloride, mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell, neutrophil, and lymphocyte (P < 0.05). Acute trials caused physiological changes, however those changes did not induce the consumption of hepatic glycogen. Chronic stress caused physiological changes that induced hepatic glycogen consumption. Under acute trial, stress experience was important to fish to achieve homeostasis after chronic stress. Changes were important to modulate the response to stressor, improve body health status, and overcome the extra stressor with D. carvalhoi challenge. The experiments demonstrate that pacu initiate strategic self-protective metabolic dynamics in acute states of stress that ensure the maintenance of important life processes in front of sequential stressors.