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Different Ratios of Docosahexaenoic and Eicosapentaenoic Acids Do Not Alter Growth, Nucleic Acid and Fatty Acids of Juvenile Cobia (Rachycentron canadum)

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Lipids

Abstract

An experiment was performed to study the effect of different ratios of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on the growth, nucleic acid and fatty acids of cobia (Rachycentron canadum) juveniles. The juveniles were fed for 8 weeks using seven treatment diets (D-1–D-7) with the same amount of DHA and EPA (1.50 ± 0.1% of dried diet), but varying ratios of DHA to EPA (0.90, 1.10, 1.30, 1.50, 1.70, 1.90, 2.10, respectively) and a control diet (D-0, DHA + EPA = 0.8% of dried diet, DHA/EPA = 1.30). At the end of the experiment, the mean body weight (BW) of juveniles fed D-0–D-7 increased significantly (from 6.86 ± 1.64 in the week 0 to 58.52 ± 16.45 g at the end of week 8, P < 0.05). The mean RNA amount and RNA/DNA ratio in the muscle (from 39.62 ± 1.30 µg mg−1 and 2.29 ± 0.11 in the week 0 to 272.55 ± 10.70 µg mg−1 and 14.54 ± 1.75 at the end of week 8, respectively) and the mean weight in the liver (from 117.70 ± 11.15 µg mg−1 and 3.14 ± 0.25 in the week 0 to 793.07 ± 13.38 µg mg−1 and 13.16 ± 0.76 at the end of week 8, respectively) of cobia juveniles fed D-0–D-7 were significantly higher at the end of 8-week experiment than initially (P < 0.05). The RNA/DNA ratio in the muscle and liver of cobia juveniles increased with their growth and appeared an obvious positive relationship, especially in the muscle, based on regression analysis. The mean lipid content increased significantly in the liver (from 29.82 ± 0.99 to 37.47 ± 3.25% totally) and muscle (from 6.74 ± 0.25 to 10.63 ± 0.23% totally) of cobia juveniles (P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was found on the lipid contents of juveniles fed different diets for 8 weeks (P > 0.05). In the muscle and liver of juveniles, EPA decreased with its reduction in the diet; DHA, DHA/EPA ratio and poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) generally increased with their increment in the diet. The conclusion was drawn that the growth, nucleic acid and fatty acids of cobia juveniles were not significantly affected by different DHA/EPA ratios in our experiments.

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Abbreviations

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

PUFAs:

Poly unsaturated fatty acids

HUFAs:

Highly unsaturated fatty acids

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid

D-0:

Control diet

D-1–7:

Diets 1–7

BW:

Body weight

WG:

Weight gain

RWG:

Relative weight gain

FID:

Flame ionization detector

SGR:

Specific growth rate

FBW:

Final body weight

IBW:

Initial body weight

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to give thanks for the help given by the staff of the institutes involved. This research was financially supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30571448), a NSFA-RSE international grant fund (30711130272), a Ph.D. station fund from the Education Ministry (20060560001), natural science funds of Guangxi (Gui-ke-zi 0728014, 0728011) and key funds of Guangxi University (CC 150008, 150009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Fisheries Sciences, Guangxi University, 100 University Road, 530004, Nanning, Guangxi, China

    Youqing Xu & Zhaokun Ding

  2. Institute of Marine Biology, Shantou University, 515063, Shantou, Guangdong, China

    Haizhu Zhang, Liang Liu & Shuqi Wang

  3. University of Toronto, 35-Charles St. West, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1R6, Canada

    John Gorge

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  1. Youqing Xu
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Correspondence to Zhaokun Ding.

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Xu, Y., Ding, Z., Zhang, H. et al. Different Ratios of Docosahexaenoic and Eicosapentaenoic Acids Do Not Alter Growth, Nucleic Acid and Fatty Acids of Juvenile Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). Lipids 44, 1091–1104 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-009-3340-4

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