Towards achieving circularity and sustainability in feeds for farmed blue foods

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Colouration and Colour Changes of the Fiddler Crab, Uca capricornis: A Descriptive Study

Colour changes in animals may be triggered by a variety of social and environmental factors and may occur over a matter of seconds or months. Crustaceans, like fiddler crabs (genus Uca), are particularly adept at changing their colour and have been the focus of numerous studies. However, few of these studies have attempted to quantitatively describe the individual variation in colour and pattern or their adaptive significance. This paper quantitatively describes the colour patterns of the fiddler crab Uca capricornis and their ability to change on a socially significant timescale. The most dramatic changes in colour pattern are associated with moulting. These ontogenetic changes result in a general reduction of the colour pattern with increasing size, although females are more colourful and variable than similarly-sized males. Uca capricornis are also capable of rapid colour changes in response to stress, but show no endogenous rhythms associated with the semilunar and tidal cycles commonly reported in other fiddler crabs. The extreme colour polymorphism and the relative stability of the colour patterns in Uca capricornis are consistent with their use in visually mediated mate recognition

Mutation analysis and characterization of ATR sequence variants in breast cancer cases from high-risk French Canadian breast/ovarian cancer families

BACKGROUND: Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) is a member of the PIK-related family which plays, along with ATM, a central role in cell-cycle regulation. ATR has been shown to phosphorylate several tumor suppressors like BRCA1, CHEK1 and TP53. ATR appears as a good candidate breast cancer susceptibility gene and the current study was designed to screen for ATR germline mutations potentially involved in breast cancer predisposition. METHODS: ATR direct sequencing was performed using a fluorescent method while widely available programs were used for linkage disequilibrium (LD), haplotype analyses, and tagging SNP (tSNP) identification. Expression analyses were carried out using real-time PCR. RESULTS: The complete sequence of all exons and flanking intronic sequences were analyzed in DNA samples from 54 individuals affected with breast cancer from non-BRCA1/2 high-risk French Canadian breast/ovarian families. Although no germline mutation has been identified in the coding region, we identified 41 sequence variants, including 16 coding variants, 3 of which are not reported in public databases. SNP haplotypes were established and tSNPs were identified in 73 healthy unrelated French Canadians, providing a valuable tool for further association studies involving the ATR gene, using large cohorts. Our analyses led to the identification of two novel alternative splice transcripts. In contrast to the transcript generated by an alternative splicing site in the intron 41, the one resulting from a deletion of 121 nucleotides in exon 33 is widely expressed, at significant but relatively low levels, in both normal and tumoral cells including normal breast and ovarian tissue. CONCLUSION: Although no deleterious mutations were identified in the ATR gene, the current study provides an haplotype analysis of the ATR gene polymorphisms, which allowed the identification of a set of SNPs that could be used as tSNPs for large-scale association studies. In addition, our study led to the characterization of a novel Δ33 splice form, which could generate a putative truncated protein lacking several functional domains. Additional studies in large cohorts and other populations will be needed to further evaluate if common and/or rare ATR sequence variants can be associated with a modest or intermediate breast cancer risk

Effect of dietary inclusion of Atlantic snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio and Northern pink shrimp, Pandalis borealis processing by-products on nutrient digestibility by juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of Atlantic snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio (Crab) and Northern pink shrimp, Pandalis borealis (Shrimp) by-product meals on nutrient digestibility in haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. The study provides coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTADs) essential for diet formulations aimed at further growth performance and nutrient utilization studies with gadoids using these waste streams as potential replacements for high-cost fish meals and poorly digestible wheat by-products. Organic matter (OM) CTTAD was significantly improved (P=0.005) with Shrimp150 (0.82) relative to the Control (0.79), while Shrimp300 was similar (0.79) (P=1.000). No significant difference in OM CTTAD was found between the Control and Crab150 (P=0.110), Shrimp150 (P=0.473) or Shrimp300 (P=0.144) at an average of 0.80. However, OM CTTAD was significantly reduced (P<0.001) for Crab300 (0.76). Inclusion of Shrimp at 150 g/kg significantly improved (P=0.003) gross energy (GE) CTTAD (0.85 on average) relative to the Control (0.83), while Crab150 (P=0.081), Crab300 (P=0.134) and Shrimp300 (P=0.986) were statistically equal to the Control (average, 0.82). Crude protein (CP) CTTAD of Crab150 (P=0.803) and Shrimp150 (P=0.980) were similar to the Control at an average of 0.90 while Crab300 (P<0.001) and Shrimp300 (P=0.005) were significantly reduced (average 0.86). Dietary inclusion of either Atlantic snow crab or Northern pink shrimp processing by-product meal at 150 g/kg, concomitant with a 50% reduction in wheat middlings and 10% reduction in fish meal, resulted in OM, GE and CP CTTADs equal to or exceeding that of the fish meal-based Control diet.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Nutrition, feeding, and behavior of fish

Nutrition and feeding influence growth, reproduction, and health of fish and their response to physiologic and environmental stressors and pathogens. The basics of fish metabolism are similar to those of warm-blooded animals in that they involve food intake, digestion, absorption, and transport of nutrients to the various tissues. Fish, however, being the most primitive form of vertebrates, possess some distinguishing features which will be discussed. Unlike warm-blooded animals, which are homoeothermic, fish are poikilothermic, so their body temperature and metabolic rate depends on the water temperature and this has practical implications for the nutrition, feeding and health of fish. Several behavioral responses have been linked to methods of feeding, feeding habits, frequency of feeding, mechanisms of food detection, and food preferences. Fish are also unique among vertebrates in their ability to absorb minerals not only from their diets but also from water through their gills and skin.NRC publication: Ye

Apparent digestibility of common feed ingredients by juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L.

The digestible energy (DE) content and the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of nutrients in common feed ingredients available in Atlantic Canada for haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus, feed formulations were determined. Juvenile haddock (mean weight, 93.9\uc2\ub12.1 g) were held in tanks equipped with fecal collection columns and fed practical fish meal-based diets for 5 weeks. The experimental diets consisted of a reference diet and six test diets, each containing 30% test ingredient, with all diets being supplemented with chromic oxide (Cr2O3, 5 g kg1) as the inert digestion indicator. Three marine fish by-products, herring meal (HM), shrimp meal (SM) and crab meal (CRM) and three plant protein supplements, dehulled soybean meal (SBM), canola meal (CAM) and corn gluten meal (CGM) were the test ingredients. The DE content of HM, SBM, CGM, CRM, CAM and SM were 18.3, 18.0, 17.8, 12.4, 10.9 and 8.8 MJ kg1 respectively. Protein ADCs were 95.9%, 92.2%, 92.3%, 82.0%, 83.0% and 73.5% respectively. Organic matter ADCs were 95.9%, 89.0%, 72.6%, 68.9%, 58.9% and 54.9% respectively. Lipid ADCs were 97.9%, 83.0%, 57.4%, 62.0%, 87.2% and 55.8% respectively. Based upon its high crude protein content and nutrient ADC and DE content, properly processed dehulled SBM was found to be a good plant protein supplement to partially replace HM in haddock feeds.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Biochemical composition and amino acid profiles of Nannochloropsis granulata algal biomass before and after supercritical fluid CO2 extraction at two processing temperatures

To assess the effect of supercritical fluid CO2 (SCFCO2) extraction on the biochemical composition of algal biomass, samples of untreated Nannochloropsis granulata biomass (Initial) and residual biomass after SCFCO2 extraction at 70 and 90 \ub0C (C70 and C90) were analyzed. SCFCO2 extraction significantly reduced crude lipid content from 285.5 g/kg to 256.2\u2013256.3 g/kg (P=0.032) and caloric content from 23.4 MJ/kg to 23.0\u201323.1 MJ/kg (P=0.004). Concomitantly, significant increases in ash content from 77.8 g/kg to 83.8\u201386.2 g/kg (P=0.002) and carbohydrate content from 149.1 g/kg to 155.9\u2013165.9 g/kg (P=0.033) were observed and no significant differences between C70 and C90. Small, but significantly lower levels of crude protein (CP, N 7 6.25 or N 7 4.78) and non-protein N (NPN) were observed for C70 with no differences between Initial and C90. However, sum of amino acid (AA) residues (\u3a3AA), a more direct estimate of true protein content, indicated no significant difference in protein content (P=0.536) between treatments (average, 362.0 g/kg). Only minor differences in total and free AA profiles were observed between Initial, C70 and C90 and the free AA content as percentage of total AA was insignificant (P=0.564) between treatments (average, 4.9%). However, several free essential AAs (EAAs) were significantly higher in C70 and C90 than Initial resulting in SCFCO2-extracted biomass having significantly higher (P=0.007) total free EAA content (2438.0\u20132697.0 \u3bcg/g of DW) than Initial (2100.4 \u3bcg/g of DW) indicating some protein damage and free EAA liberation. While there was a trend toward most AAs slightly increasing in C70 and C90, the EAA lysine; particularly sensitive to high-temperature processing, was significantly lower (P=0.003) in C90 (6.0 g lysine/100 g protein) than Initial (6.9 g lysine/100 g protein) while C70 was intermediate (6.4 g lysine/100 g protein) providing evidence that lysine damage was more severe at 90 \ub0C than 70 \ub0C. The essential AA index (EAAI) of 0.9 for N. granulata biomass is highly comparable to reference proteins such as egg albumin, soy, Chlorella and Spirulina (0.9\u20131.0) indicating very good potential for use in animal and fish feeds. Further investigations involving species-specific in vitro protein quality and in vivo biological performance of target animals fed diets supplemented with these products are warranted.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Chemical composition and nutritional properties of freshwater and marine microalgal biomass cultured in photobioreactors

Proximate, amino acid and elemental composition, total phenolic content (TPC), and in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of microalgal biomass were determined. Microalgae contained low to moderate ash (5\u201317 %), moderate to high carbohydrate (18\u201346 %), crude protein (18\u201346 %), high crude lipid (12\u201348 %), and energy (19\u201327 MJ kg 121). Characteristic of microalgae, non-essential amino acids (AAs), aspartic and glutamic acids, were predominant (20\u201330 % of protein; 8\u201312 % of dry weight). Microalgae had favorable essential AA profiles with high essential amino acid (EAA) indices (0.9\u20131.2). Expressed as g EAA 100 g protein 121, Porphyridium aerugineum was rich in leucine (11.9), lysine (8.0), arginine (8.6), and tryptophan (3.3); Nannochloropsis granulata (A) in leucine (11.0), lysine (8.5), and tryptophan (2.8); Tetraselmis chuii and Botryococcus braunii in arginine (9.4 and 20.5, respectively); and Phaeodactylum tricornutum in lysine (6.4) and tryptophan (2.6). Mineral compositions (%) were calcium (0.1\u20133.0), magnesium (0.3\u20130.7), phosphorous (0.7\u20131.5), potassium (0.7\u20132.4), sodium (0.8\u20132.7), and sulfur (0.4\u20131.4), and trace element compositions (mg kg 121) were copper (18\u2013102), iron (1,395\u201311,101), manganese (45\u2013454), selenium (0\u20130.5), and zinc (28\u201364). Microalgae contained low TPC (6\u201313 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) g 121 DW), except T. chuii (20 mg GAE g 121 DW). IVPD was high (>90 %) for B. braunii (A), P. aerugineum, and lipid-extracted N. granulata (B); mid-range (80\u201389 %) for P. tricornutum, N. granulata (A), B. braunii (B), Neochloris oleoabundans, T. chuii, and whole N. granulata (B); and lower (<80 %) for Acutodesmus dimorphus. Microalgal species P. tricornutum, B. braunii, N. granulata, and T. chuii had high protein (40\u201352 %), IVPD (82\u201397 %), and digestible protein (35\u201350 %), comparable to plant proteins used in animal feeds and aquaculture.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Apparent protein and energy digestibility of common and alternative feed ingredients by Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua (Linnaeus, 1758)

Studies were conducted with Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua (L.), to determine the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of protein and energy and the digestible energy (DE) content in feed ingredients widely available in Canada. We also tested the assumption of \u201cindependency\u201d used in digestibility studies. The feed ingredients included two fish meals (herring, anchovy), three crustacean by-product meals (whole krill, crab, shrimp), two animal by-product meals (poultry by-product, hydrolyzed feather), six oilseed meals (soybean, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, canola, canola protein concentrate, flaxseed), two pulse meals (white lupin, pea protein concentrate) and two cereal grain meals (corn gluten, wheat gluten). Protein ADCs were high for wheat gluten meal (99.9%), soy protein concentrate (98.6%), soy protein isolate (97.4%), whole krill meal (96.3%), herring meal (93.3%), soybean meal (92.3%), anchovy meal (92.2%), pea protein concentrate (89.8%), white lupin meal (89.7%), crab meal (89.4%), canola protein concentrate (88.8%) and corn gluten meal (86.3%); mid-range for poultry by-product meal (80.2%) and canola meal (76.0%); and low for shrimp meal (66.7%), hydrolyzed feather meal (62.4%) and flaxseed meal (50.2\u201355.0%). Energy ADC was high for whole krill meal (96.3%), wheat gluten meal (95.4%), soy protein concentrate (94.9%), herring meal (92.8%), soy protein isolate (92.1%), soybean meal (88.1%) and anchovy meal (86.4%); mid-range for canola protein concentrate (83.3%), corn gluten meal (82.7%), crab meal (82.4%), pea protein concentrate (76.7%) and white lupin meal (75.3%); and low for poultry by-product meal (71.0%), canola meal (60.6%), hydrolyzed feather meal (58.9%), shrimp meal (41.4%) and flaxseed meal (21.2\u201337.4%). From the protein ADC data, results clearly showed that the basal diet and test feed ingredients were digested independently of one another in nearly all cases, the only exceptions being for those diets containing test ingredients of very high (> 99%, wheat gluten) or very low (< 67%, hydrolyzed feather and flaxseed) protein ADCs. In the case of DE, the basal diet and test feed ingredients were digested independently in all test diets without exception.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Effect of the incorporation level of dehulled soybean meal into test diet on apparent digestibility coefficients for protein and energy by juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L.

The apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) for protein and energy of dehulled soybean meal were calculated in relation to the incorporation levels in a test diet using two different published equations [Cho, C.Y., Slinger, S.J., Bailey, H.S., 1982. Bioenergetics of salmonid species: energy intake, expenditure and productivity. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 73B, 25\u201341; Forster, I., 1999. A note on the method of calculating digestibility coefficients of nutrients provided by single ingredients to feeds of aquatic animals. Aqua. Nutr. 5, 143\u2013145]. Soybean meal was incorporated at levels of 10, 20, 30 and 40% to 90, 80, 70 and 60% (w/w basis) of the basal diet, respectively. Haddock with mean initial body weight of 49 g were randomly distributed among 5 tanks (40 fish/tank) equipped with fecal collection columns. Reference and test diets were fed to fish to apparent satiation three times daily week days and twice daily on weekends and fecal samples collected. ADC values were calculated based on actual mixing levels of feed ingredient (i) and basal diet (100 12 i), taking into account the dry matter content of soybean meal (89.1%) and basal diet (91.7%), and relative contributions to total protein or energy content from the basal diet and the test feed ingredient. ADCs for protein and energy of the reference diet were 94.8 and 86.1%, respectively. Increasing the incorporation level of soybean meal from 10 to 40% into the test diet had no significant effect on protein digestibility. The method of ADC calculation also had no significant effect on the value obtained for protein digestibility with the Cho et al. [Cho, C.Y., Slinger, S.J., Bailey, H.S., 1982. Bioenergetics of salmonid species: energy intake, expenditure and productivity. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 73B, 25\u201341] method giving an average of 96.1% (range, 95.0\u201396.9%) and Forster [Forster, I., 1999. A note on the method of calculating digestibility coefficients of nutrients provided by single ingredients to feeds of aquatic animals. Aqua. Nutr. 5, 143\u2013145] giving 96.1% (range, 95.0\u201396.8%). The same was true for energy digestibility, which averaged 87.9% (range, 86.5\u201388.9%) according to Cho et al. [Cho, C.Y., Slinger, S.J., Bailey, H.S., 1982. Bioenergetics of salmonid species: energy intake, expenditure and productivity. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 73B, 25\u201341] and 88.1% (range, 86.5\u201389.2%) according to Forster [Forster, I., 1999. A note on the method of calculating digestibility coefficients of nutrients provided by single ingredients to feeds of aquatic animals. Aqua. Nutr. 5, 143\u2013145].Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye