Dietary taurine enhances growth and feed utilization in larval Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed soybean meal-based diets

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary taurine on growth performance and feed utilization of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) larvae. Four plant protein-based, isonitrogenous (400 g kg À1 protein), isoenergetic (19 MJ kg À1 ) diets supplemented with four taurine concentrations (0.0, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 g kg À1 ; designated as T 0 , T 0.5 , T 1 and T 1.5 , respectively) were prepared. The diets were fed to triplicate groups of fish larvae (0.024 g average body weight), to apparent satiation, three times per day for 60 days. Larval growth rates and feed utilization efficiency were significantly improved with increasing supplemental taurine up to 10 g kg À1 and decreased with further taurine supplementation. The quadratic regression analyses indicated that the maximum larval performance occurred at about 9.7 g kg À1 of total dietary taurine. Fish survival was significantly lower at 15 g kg À1 dietary taurine than at other taurine levels. Body protein significantly increased, while body moisture and ash decreased, with increasing dietary taurine up to 10 g kg À1 and decreased with further taurine supplementation to 15 g kg À1 . Body lipid was not significantly affected by dietary taurine concentration. A number of body amino acids (tryptophan, arginine, histidine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, alanine, glycine, threonine and taurine) significantly increased with increasing supplemental taurine up to 10 g kg À1 and then decreased with further increase in dietary taurine levels. The rest of body amino acids were not significantly affected by dietary taurine. The present results suggest that about 9.7 g kg À1 dietary taurine is required for optimum performance of Nile tilapia larvae fed soybean meal-based diets.

Different preference is modulated by the feeding stimulants supplementation in different Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis ) basic diets

“…Taurine is considered to be a conditionally indispensable nutrient in certain aquatic species and possesses the major characteristics of a feeding stimulant for fish due to its amino acid structure (Chatzifotis, Polemitou, Divanach, & Antonopoulou, ). In this study, taurine significantly potentiated the palatability of the APB diet, which is supported by the results of the most studies (Al‐Feky, El‐Sayed, & Ezzat, ; GwangSic, Takeuchi, Seikai, & Yoshinaga, ; Matsunari et al., ; Park, ). Similar with DMPT, the attractive effects are closely related to the concentration of taurine in the APB group, similar results have also been reported in Japanese flounder ( Paralichthys olivaceus ) (Park, Takeuchi, Yokoyama, & Seikai, ) and rainbow trout (Gaylord, Teague, & Barrows, ).…”

Molecular cloning and characterization of taurine transporter from turbot (Psetta maxima) and its expression analysis regulated by taurinein vitro

“…However, many fish species have extremely low taurine biosynthesis abilities and they are much more dependent on dietary intake (Yokoyama, Takeuchi, Park & Nakazoe 2001;Goto, Matsumoto, Murakami, Takagi & Hasumi 2003;Kim, Matsunari, Takeuchi, Yokoyama, Furuita, Murata & Goto 2008). Many defects associated with taurine deficiency have been observed in fish, such as growth depression (Lunger et al 2007;Chatzifotis, Polemitou, Divanach & Antonopoulou 2008;Al-Feky, El-Sayed & Ezzat 2015), poor disease resistance (Maita, Maekawa, Satoh, Futami & Satoh 2006), oxidative stress (Espe, Ruohonen & El-Mowafi 2012) and high mortality (Salze, Craig, Smith, Smith & McLean 2011). Due to the high price and limited supply, numerous studies on replacing fish meal with plant ingredients have been carried out, which usually resulted in a deficiency of taurine in diets (Tacon & Metian 2008).…”

“…Fishmeal is known to be the major source of taurine in aquafeeds. Supplementation of taurine to plant protein diets has been proved indispensable to sustain comparable levels of feed intake and fish growth (Lunger et al 2007;Al-Feky et al 2015). Many defects associated with taurine deficiency have been observed in fish, such as growth depression (Lunger et al 2007;Chatzifotis, Polemitou, Divanach & Antonopoulou 2008;Al-Feky, El-Sayed & Ezzat 2015), poor disease resistance (Maita, Maekawa, Satoh, Futami & Satoh 2006), oxidative stress (Espe, Ruohonen & El-Mowafi 2012) and high mortality (Salze, Craig, Smith, Smith & McLean 2011).…”

“…Due to the high price and limited supply, numerous studies on replacing fish meal with plant ingredients have been carried out, which usually resulted in a deficiency of taurine in diets (Tacon & Metian 2008). Many defects associated with taurine deficiency have been observed in fish, such as growth depression (Lunger et al 2007;Chatzifotis, Polemitou, Divanach & Antonopoulou 2008;Al-Feky, El-Sayed & Ezzat 2015), poor disease resistance (Maita, Maekawa, Satoh, Futami & Satoh 2006), oxidative stress (Espe, Ruohonen & El-Mowafi 2012) and high mortality (Salze, Craig, Smith, Smith & McLean 2011). Supplementation of taurine to plant protein diets has been proved indispensable to sustain comparable levels of feed intake and fish growth (Lunger et al 2007;Al-Feky et al 2015).…”

Dietary supplementation with taurine improves ability to resist ammonia stress in hybrid snakehead (Channa maculatus♀ × Channa argus♂)

“…Taurine (2‐aminoethanesulphonic acid, CAS 107‐35‐7) is an organic acid which was originally isolated from cow bezoar, it is a simple molecule, containing an acidic sulphonate group, a basic amino group and two carbons in between (Brosnan & Brosnan, ). It plays an important role in bile acid conjugation, membrane stabilization, osmoregulation, cell volume regulation, growth promoting, antioxidation, immunomodulation, liver protection and modulation of calcium levels (Al Feky, Sayed, & Ezzat, ). Recently studies have shown that taurine could enhance growth performance and feed utilization (Johnson et al, ; Salze & Davis, ).…”