Abstract
The splendid alfonsino Beryx splendens is a commercially important deep-sea fish in East Asian countries. Because the wild stock of this species has been declining, there is an urgent need to develop aquaculture systems. In the present study, we investigated the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) requirements of B. splendens, which are known as essential dietary components in many carnivorous marine fish species. The fatty acid profiles of the muscles, liver, and stomach contents of B. splendens suggested that it acquires substantial levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from its natural diet. The functional characterization of a fatty acid desaturase (Fads2) and three elongases (Elovl5, Elovl4a, and Elovl4b) from B. splendens confirmed their enzymatic capabilities in LC-PUFA biosynthesis. Fads2 showed Δ6 and Δ8 bifunctional desaturase activities. Elovl5 showed preferential elongase activities toward C18 and C20 PUFA substrates, whereas Elovl4a and Elovl4b showed activities toward various C18–22 substrates. Given that Fads2 showed no Δ5 desaturase activity and no other fads-like sequence was found in the B. splendens genome, EPA and arachidonic acid cannot be synthesized from C18 precursors; hence, they can be categorized as dietary essential fatty acids in B. splendens. EPA can be converted into DHA in B. splendens via the so-called Sprecher pathway. However, given that fads2 is only expressed in the brain, it is unlikely that the capacity of B. splendens to biosynthesize DHA from EPA can fulfill its physiological requirements. These results will be useful to researchers developing B. splendens aquaculture methods.
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All sequences isolated from B. splendens in the present study were deposited into the NCBI GenBank with the accession numbers MZ2991134 to MZ2991137.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the fishermen Yuzuru Sano (from Minamiizu-cho), Naohisa Uchiyama, and Yuto Uchiyama (both from Inatori, Higashiizu-cho) as well as their vessels “Ai-maru” and “Inari-maru,” respectively, for their cooperation in collecting B. splendens samples.
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This study was fully supported by Shizuoka Prefecture through The Promotion of R&D and Industrial Application (“Seeds” Creation Research) program.
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NK and GY initially conceived the study and design experiments. NK, KK, and YM performed overall experimental analyses. SSu, YN, HN, KT, and KO prepared all the B. splendens samples for RNA extraction and fatty acid analysis. RK confirmed B. splendens gene sequences. MM performed cloning of desaturase and elongase genes. YH and SSa analyzed fatty acids and interpreted the results. NK prepared the first draft of the manuscript and edited with GY. The manuscript was further finalized and approved by all authors.
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Kabeya, N., Kimura, K., Matsushita, Y. et al. Determination of dietary essential fatty acids in a deep-sea fish, the splendid alfonsino Beryx splendens: functional characterization of enzymes involved in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. Fish Physiol Biochem 49, 425–439 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01192-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01192-7