Project description:This study was designed to address key questions concerning the use of alternative protein sources for animal feeds and addresses aspects such as their nutrient composition and impact on gut function, the immune system and systemic physiology. We used casein (CAS), partially delactosed whey powder (DWP), spray dried porcine plasma (SDPP), soybean meal (SBM), wheat gluten meal (WGM) and yellow meal worm (YMW) as protein sources. We investigated the effects of feeding mice during a period of four weeks on semi-synthetic diets containing 30% of six different protein sources. Microarrays were used to detail the global gene expression in the ileal mucosae of mice. Male C57BL/6J mice were stratified according to bodyweight and litter of origin into six dietary treatment groups. These mice were fed for four weeks with semi-synthetic diets containing one of the following protein sources. At the end of four weeks, mice were sacrificed by euthenesia and ileal tissue samples (scrapings) were collected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. Soybean meal (SBM) diet group served as reference to make comparisons with other experimental diets.
Project description:The sustainable development of modern aquaculture must rely on a significant reduction of the fish meal (FM) used in aquafeed formulations. However, FM substitution with alternative ingredients in diets for carnivorous fish species often showed reduced nutrient absorption, significantly perturbed metabolisms and histological changes at both hepatic and intestinal level. In the present study, adult rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were fed three different experimental aquafeed formulations. A control diet with higher FM content (27.3%) than two test formulations in which fish meal was substituted with two more sustainable and promising alternatives: insect meal (Hermetia illucens larvae=10.1%, FM=11.6%) and poultry by-products meal (PBM=14.8%; FM=11.7%). Combined metabolomics and proteomics analyses of fish liver, together with histological examination of liver and intestine demonstrated that a well balanced formulation of nutrients in the three diets allowed high metabolic compatibility of either substitutions, paving the way for innovative and sustainable use of novel raw materials for the fish feed industry. Results show that the main metabolic pathways of nutrient absorption and catabolism were essentially unaltered by alternative feed ingredients, and also histological alterations were negligible. It is demonstrated that substitution of fish meal with sustainable alternatives does not impact on fish metabolism, given proper efforts are put in fulfilling nutritional requirements of rainbow trout.
Project description:Background: Different diets result in significantly different phenotypes through metabolic and genomic reprogramming. Epigenetic marks, identified in humans and mouse models upon caloric restriction, high fat diet or the intake of specific bioactives, suggest that genomic reprogramming drives this reprogramming and mediates the effect of nutrition on health. Histone modifications encode the epigenetic signal that adapts genome functions to environmental conditions, including diets, by tuning the structure and properties of chromatin. So far, the effect of different diets on the genome-wide distribution of critical histone marks has not been determined Methods: We investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing the distribution of the trimethylation of lysine 4 of histone H3 in the liver of mice fed for one year with five different diets including: chow containing corn powder as extra source of plant bioactives or specifically enriched with the cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, high fat enriched obesogenic and caloric restricted pro-longevity diets Conclusions: The comparison of the resulting histone mark profiles revealed functional food containing cyanidin determines broad effect.
Project description:White bass (Morone chrysops) are a popular sportfish throughout the southern United States, and one parent of the commercially successful hybrid striped bass (M. chrysops x M. saxatilis). Currently, white bass are cultured using diets formulated for other carnivorous fish, such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) or hybrid striped bass and contain a significant percentage of marine fish meal. Since there are no studies regarding the utilization of alternative proteins in this species, we evaluated global gene expression of white bass fed diets in which fish meal was partially or totally replaced by various combinations of soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, canola meal, soy protein concentrate, wheat gluten, or a commercial protein blend (Pro-Cision). Significant differential expressed genes and gene ontology of pairwise comparisons between control diet and each test diet are presented and discussed.
Project description:Black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFL) from Hermetia illucens is a promising alternative protein source in diets for farmed fish. The larvae can efficiently convert low-value organic material into high quality protein in a production cycle with low arable land and freshwater inputs. A few recent studies have shown that BSFL is a suitable protein source for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in smaller controlled experiments. However, industry-relevant field trials conducted under large scale near-commercial conditions over a longer period are lacking. In this study, a feeding trial was performed to evaluate the impact of BSFL on growth performance and health of Atlantic salmon during the grow out phase in seawater, in a commercial site in Vestland county, Norway. A total of 320,000 post-smolt Atlantic salmon were distributed into six duplicate sea cages and fed one of three diets (commercial-like control diet and two test diets partially replacing the protein content of the control diet with 4 % and 8 % defatted BSFL meal) for 21 weeks, until a relevant commercial slaughter size of 4.5-5.0 kg was reached. Health parameters were assessed including histology of the distal intestine (DI), in addition to DI microbiota identification (by 16s rRNA-seq) and salmon RNA-seq of DI and head kidney (HK). The results showed that the inclusion of BSFL meal supported growth performance and had no adverse effect on gut health. The beta diversity of the distal intestine microbiota and the relative abundance of families Lactobacillaceae and the chitinolytic Bacillaceae increased in the fish fed the BSFL diets. Additionally, no histopathological changes were attributable to BSFL meal intake. Results from RNA-seq in DI revealed that BSFL inclusion modulates metabolic processes associated with lipids, the response to estrogens, the activity of immune receptors (to chemokines), phagocytosis and extracellular vesicles. Based on these results, black soldier fly larvae meal is a suitable alternative protein ingredient in inclusions of up to at least 8 % for Atlantic salmon under industrial fish farming conditions.