seyed hossein hossenifar

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of diets containing the white-button mushroom powder (WBMP) on growth performance and some hematological and biochemical indices of juvenile Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). For this purpose, one hundred fifty-three juvenile of Persian sturgeon (47.78 ± 0.39 g) were distributed into nine experimental fish culture tanks with a total volume of 500 liters, filled with 300 liters of water. The fish were fed with diets containing 0.5% white-button mushroom powder (T1), 1% white-button mushroom powder (T2) and 0% white-button mushroom powder (control) as experimental diets for eight weeks. At the end of ‎the experimental period, no significant differences were observed in growth and feed‏ ‏utilization parameters between treatment and compare to the control diet (p>0.05). ‎Hematological parameter such as number of white blood cells was significantly ‎lower in the fish fed with the diet containing 1% WBMP compared to the control diet (p<0.05). The neutrophil percentage was significantly ‎higher in the fish fed with the diet containing 0.5 % WBMP compared to the control diet (p<0.05) as well. MCV, MCH, RBC, Hb, Hct, MCHC, lymphocyte, and monocytes were not different among the treatments (p>0.05). WBMP supplementation significantly increased serum glucose and cortisol in T1 and T2 (p<0.05). The current study results reveal that supplementation of diet with 0.5 and 1% WBMP causes negative effects on some blood and stress indices in juvenile Persian sturgeon. It seems that more studies are needed to determine the role of WBMP in sturgeon health and nutrition.

Zebra fish is an important species in genetics and considering the proximity of its genome to the human genome, investigating the expression of some of the growth and appetite genes during its larvae development is essential. Genes coding growth and appetite (GH and ghrelin) hormones are involved in the synthesis and release of growth hormone, which can be considered to be economic genes in pisciculture. Given the importance of these genes during the early larvae development stages, this study was performed to assess their activity. Samples were collected at 4, 7, 10, 15, 30 and 45 post-hatching days. Samples were immediately placed in liquid nitrogen (-196 degree centigrade) and then stored in a freezer at -80 degree centigrade until RNA extraction (using RNX-Plus kit). To analyze normal expression of target genes, reference gene β-actin was used by 2-∆∆Ct method. The expression of genes associated with the growth and appetite was significantly different at various stages of the development of zebra fish, as the gene expression of GH on day 4 and ghrelin gene on day 10 after hatching were significantly higher compared with other samples (P<0.05). Overall, the expression of GH and ghrelin genes at the early stages of growth is higher than other fish developmental stages due to their great importance in the survival of larvae at these stages of life.