Nutritional enrichment of larval fish feed with thraustochytrid producing polyunsaturated fatty acids and xanthophylls

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In marine aquaculture, rotifers and Artemia nauplii employed as larval fish feed are often nutritionally enriched with forage such as yeast and algal cells supplemented with polyunsaturated fatty acids and xanthophylls, which are required for normal growth and a high survival ratio of fish larvae. To reduce the enrichment steps, we propose here the use of a marine thraustochytrid strain, Schizochytrium sp. KH105, producing docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin. The KH105 cells prepared by cultivation under optimized conditions were successfully incorporated by rotifers and Artemia nauplii. The contents of docosahexaenoic acid surpassed the levels required in feed for fish larvae, and the enriched Artemia showed an increased body length. The results demonstrate that we have developed an improved method of increasing the dietary value of larval fish feed.

Section snippets

Microorganism and culture media

Schizochytrium sp. strain KH105 (31) was maintained on an agar medium containing 30 g/l glucose, 10 g/l Polypepton, 5 g/l yeast extract, and 15 g/l agar in 19.5 g/l artificial sea salts (about 50% equivalent of natural seawater; Jamarine Laboratory, Osaka). The seed culture medium consisted of 50 ml of 30 g/l glucose, 20 g/l Polypepton and 10 g/l yeast extract in 50% artificial seawater. For optimization, cultivation was performed in 200-ml baffled flasks containing 50 ml of culture medium

Optimization of culture condition of Schizochytrium sp. KH105

To make use of the Schizochytrium cells as enrichment diet material, we aimed first to optimize the medium composition for the cultivation of the strain KH105 to improve the cellular lipid content. Figure 1A shows the effect of salt concentrations ranging from 10% to 100% of that of natural seawater in the basal medium on the cell growth and production of fatty acids and DHA. These parameters were maximum at a seawater concentration of 50%, but did not change significantly when the salt

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Sasebo City Fisheries Center for preparing the rotifers.

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