Effects of Dietary Protein and Lipid Levels in Practical Formulation on Growth, Feed Utilization, Body Composition, and Serum Biochemical Parameters of Growing Rockfish Sebastes schlegeli.

A 3 × 2 factorial experiment (protein levels, 42%, 46%, 50%; lipid levels, 9%, 12%) with three replicates was conducted in a circulating water system to investigate the effects of dietary protein and lipid levels on growth, feed utilization, body composition, and serum biochemical parameters of growing rockfish Sebastes schlegeli (initial weight, 29.98 ± 0.10 g). After an 8 weeks feeding trial, growth performance in terms of final body weight, percent weight gain, and specific growth rate increased with the increase of dietary protein level when fish fed diets containing a consistent level of dietary lipid. The feed conversion rate and daily feed intake were significantly affected by dietary protein and lipid levels, and decreased as dietary protein level increased from 42% to 46% or dietary lipid level increased from 9% to 12% (P < 0.05). Survival rate, viscerosomatic index, and hepatosomatic index were unaffected by dietary protein level (P > 0.05), but significantly increased with the increase of dietary lipid level (P < 0.05). On the contrary, condition factor was unaffected by dietary lipid level (P > 0.05), but significantly increased with dietary protein level increasing up to 46% (P < 0.05). The moisture contents of muscle and liver significantly decreased, but the whole-body crude lipid content, the crude protein and lipid contents of muscle increased as dietary protein or lipid level increased (P < 0.05). The contents of isoleucine, leucine, histidine, glycine, alanine of muscle, as well as the proportions of C14 : 0, C20 : 1, and C22 : 1n-9 in total fatty acids were higher in fish fed diets containing 12% lipid than those fed 9% lipid (P < 0.05), while C18 : 1n-9 and C18 : 2n-6 followed an opposite trend. The contents of phenylalanine, lysine, and tyrosine as well as the proportions of C18 : 0, C18 : 2n-6, C22 : 1n-9, and C22 : 6n-3 in total fatty acids decreased with the increase of dietary protein level (P < 0.05). Serum cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins increased significantly with dietary protein or lipid levels increasing, but TG concentration was elevated significantly in fish fed diets containing 12% lipid. Considering the present results in terms of growth and feed utilization, the suitable protein and lipid levels in diet for growing rockfish were 46% and 12%, respectively.

Influence of Dietary Phosphorus on the Growth, Feed Utilization, Proximate Composition, Intestinal Enzymes, and Oxidation Resistance of Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicus.

Six experimental diets (crude protein 12.58%, crude fat 1.93%, and total energy 10.72 kJ/kg) containing 0.24%, 0.37%, 0.51%, 0.62%, 0.77%, and 0.89% phosphorus were formulated to evaluate dietary phosphorus requirement for sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. The feeding trial was conducted in 18 fiberglass tanks (220 L) for 63 days. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate tanks of 50 sea cucumbers (9.99 g) and fed once daily. With the increase of dietary phosphorus level, weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), daily feed intake (DFI), feces production ratio, the activities of amylase, alkaline phosphatase, phosphofructokinase, succinate dehydrogenase, and glutathione peroxidase as well as the contents of glutathione and glutathione oxidized significantly increased and then decreased afterwards (P < 0.05). A. japonicus fed diet with 0.63%, 0.63%, and 0.55% dietary phosphorus was estimated to yield the highest WG (11.39 g), SGR (1.09%/d), and DFI (2.55%/d) according to the quadratic regression analysis of WG, SGR, and DFI against dietary phosphorus level, respectively. The apparent digestibility of dry material and energy followed an opposite tendency. Feed efficiency, the contents of whole-body phosphorus, initially increased and then plateaued, fitting piecewise-linear models with breakpoint at 0.57% and 0.55% dietary phosphorus. Daily phosphorus intake, pyruvate kinase activity, and the ratio of glutathione and glutathione oxidized increased (P < 0.05) but the apparent digestibility of phosphorus, the activities of alkaline protease, aspartate transaminase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase decreased (P < 0.05), responding to the increasing dietary phosphorus. Considering the present results, the optimal dietary phosphorus for A. japonicus is 0.57-0.63%.

Analyses of regulatory network and discovery of potential biomarkers for Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) in responses to starvation stress through transcriptome and metabolome.

Whether in aquaculture or in nature, starvation stress limits the growth of fish. The purpose of the study was to clarify the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying starvation stress in Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) through liver transcriptome and metabolome analysis. Transcriptome results showed that liver genes associated with cell cycle and fatty acid synthesis were down-regulated, whereas those related to fatty acid decomposition were up-regulated in the experimental group (EG; starved for 72 days) compared to the control group (CG; feeding). Metabolomic results showed that there were significant differences in the levels of metabolites related to nucleotide metabolism and energy metabolism, such as purine metabolism, histidine metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation. Five fatty acids (C22:6n-3; C22:5n-3; C20:5n-3; C20:4n-3; C18:3n-6) were selected as possible biomarkers of starvation stress from the differential metabolites of metabolome. Subsequently, correlation between these differential genes of lipid metabolism and cell cycle and differential metabolites were analyzed, and observed that these five fatty acids were significantly correlated with the differential genes. These results provide new clues for understanding the role of fatty acid metabolism and cell cycle in fish under starvation stress. It also provides a reference for promoting the biomarker identification of starvation stress and stress tolerance breeding research.

Assessment of the efficacy of using taurine supplements to improve growth and feed utilization of juvenile starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) given diets based on soy-protein.

A feeding trial was conducted to assess the feasibility of supplementing taurine in soy-based diets for juvenile starry flounder Platichthys stellatus. The basal diet (Crude protein 66.5%, crude lipid 8.5%) was supplemented with 0 (control), 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5% taurine to formulate six test diets. Each diet was fed to 40 juvenile fish (22.25 g) in triplicate tanks (120 L) attached to a sea water circulation-system. Fish were fed twice daily by hand to apparent satiation during the 56-d trial. At the end of the trial, fish were counted and weighed for the analyses of growth performance, diet utilization and survival after a 24-h fast. Blood, intestines and muscles were collected for the analyses of serum oxidation resistance, digestive enzymes and body compostion. Livers were collected from the remaining fish at 4 h post-feeding for metabolic enzymes analyses. The results showed that fish fed diets supplemented with 1.0-2.5% taurine grew from 22.25-22.26 g to 47.88-50.40 g with higher average weight gain (25.62-28.12 vs 23.07 g ), specific growth rate (1.37-1.46 vs 1.27%/d ), feed intake (1.04-1.06 vs 1.00%/d), protein efficiency (2.50-2.61 vs 2.44) and lower feed conversion rate (0.84-0.83 vs 0.89) than the control treatment. Diets supplemented with 1.5-2.5% taurine significantly elevated the activities of pepsin (2.47-2.55 vs 2.22, U mg-1 prot), trypsin of distal intestine(14.55-15.24 vs 11.94, U mg-1 prot), hepatic glucokinase (126.62-129.42 vs 105.56, U mg-1 prot) and fatty acid synthetase (125.56-136.89 vs 108.45, U mg-1 prot). All diets supplemented with taurine increased the activities of lipase (32.23-36.67 vs 29.53, U g-1 prot) and trypsin (35.85-37.89 vs 33.54, U mg-1 prot) of proximal intestine, hepatic aspartate transaminase (736.990-832.38 vs 699.24, U mg-1 prot), alanine aminotransferase (477.40-551.86 vs 373.97, U mg-1 prot) and glycogen synthase (2.16-2.59 vs 1.97, U mg-1 prot), as well as serum superoxide dismutase (4.33-4.59 vs 4.07, U mg-1 prot ) and glutathione peroxidase (42.23-50.25 vs 39.17, mol mg-1 prot). Therefore, taurine supplementation benefits juvenile starry flounder growth, digestion, nutrients metabolism and oxidation resistance. The optimal taurine requirement for starry flounder is 1.75%, and the recommended supplementation level is at least 1.6% for maximizing growth of fish fed a low-fishmeal diet (13.6%).

Ti-Catalyzed Radical Alkylation of Secondary and Tertiary Alkyl Chlorides Using Michael Acceptors.

Alkyl chlorides are common functional groups in synthetic organic chemistry. However, the engagement of unactivated alkyl chlorides, especially tertiary alkyl chlorides, in transition-metal-catalyzed C-C bond formation remains challenging. Herein, we describe the development of a TiIII-catalyzed radical addition of 2° and 3° alkyl chlorides to electron-deficient alkenes. Mechanistic data are consistent with inner-sphere activation of the C-Cl bond featuring TiIII-mediated Cl atom abstraction. Evidence suggests that the active TiIII catalyst is generated from the TiIV precursor in a Lewis-acid-assisted electron transfer process.

Synthesis of Chlorotrifluoromethylated Pyrrolidines by Electrocatalytic Radical Ene-Yne Cyclization.

The stereoselective synthesis of chlorotrifluoromethylated pyrrolidines was achieved using anodically coupled electrolysis, an electrochemical process that combines two parallel oxidative events in a convergent and productive manner. The bench-stable and commercially available solids CF3 SO2 Na and MgCl2 were used as the functional group sources to generate CF3. and Cl. , respectively, via electrochemical oxidation, and the subsequent reaction of these radicals with the 1,6-enyne substrate was controlled with an earth-abundant Mn catalyst. In particular, the introduction of a chelating ligand allowed for the ene-yne cyclization to take place with high stereochemical control over the geometry of the alkene group in the pyrrolidine product.

One-Pot Reactions for Modular Synthesis of Polysubstituted and Fused Pyridines.

A 2-fluoro-1,3-dicarbonyl-initiated one-pot Michael addition/[5 + 1] annulation/dehydrofluorinative aromatization reaction sequence is introduced for regioselective synthesis of di-, tri-, tetra-, and pentasubstituted pyridines as well as fused pyridines. This simple and modular synthesis is performed using readily available starting materials and under transition-metal catalyst-free conditions.