Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 99-104)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Includes appendix. Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-73)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 11, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-22)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (Leaves: 66-72)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 90-97)

Experiment one revealed fishmeal (FM) replacement with soy protein concentrate (SPC) alone, and in combination with pea protein concentrate (PPC) and saponins (S) modulated the intestinal bacterial communities of D. labrax, increasing the presence of lactic acid bacteria. Intestinal histology revealed significantly reduced goblet cell’s (GC’s) in fish fed the SPC+S, epithelial microvilli densities (MD) in fish fed the SPC+PPC, SPC+PPC+S and SPC+S after two weeks feeding. Significant reductions in GC’s and intraepithelial leukocytes (IEL’s) in fish fed the SPC+S, and MD’s in fish fed the SPC+S and SPC+PPC+S after four weeks feeding, relative to fish fed the FM control. Furthermore, fish fed all plant based diets appeared to exhibit a loss of membrane integrity at the microvilli tips, most pronounced in fish fed the SPC+S diet. These results suggest a sub-acute enteritis response in the posterior intestine of D. labrax, which was deemed to be most pronounced in fish fed the SPC+S diets. Experiment two utilised the SPC+S diet as a sub-optimal basal diet to assess the potential of the probiotic Bacillus subtilis and the prebiotic Previda®, individually and in combination, in alleviating the enteritis-like effects induced by this diet, observed in the first experiment. Microbiological analyses revealed B. subtilis modulated the allochthonous bacterial communities. Fish fed the combination of B. subtilis and Previda® (synbiotic) diet exhibited a significantly increased intestinal perimeter ratio, compared to fish fed the basal. Significantly elevated GC’s in fish fed the probiotic and synbiotic treatments, and significantly elevated epithelial MD’s, and intestinal absorptive surface index in fish fed the probiotic diet was observed, relative to fed fish the basal. The loss of membrane integrity induced by the basal diet, was reduced in fish fed the probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic diets. The intestinal gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNFα was significantly up-regulated in fish fed all experimental diets, relative to fish fed the basal. The intestinal gene expression of HSP70, CASP3 and PCNA was significantly down-regulated in fish fed the probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic relative to fish fed the basal. At the end of the experiment intestinal samples were exposed to one of four treatments [1. PBS (control), 2. B. subtilis, 3. Vibrio anguillarum and 4. B. subtilis + V. anguillarum], ex vivo, to determine if the feed additives could mitigate enteric pathogen damage. All feed additives revealed the potential to reduce the morphological damage caused by the pathogen. Experiment three assessed B. subtilis and the phytobiotic Next Enhance 150® on the growth and health of D. labrax. B. subtilis modulated the allochthonous bacterial communities and reduced the presence of some potential pathogens. The intestinal gene expression of HSP70, CASP3, PCNA and CAL was significantly down-regulation in fish fed the probiotic diet relative to fish fed the control. Significantly elevated IEL’s were observed in fish fed the probiotic and Next Enhance 150® diets relative to fish fed the control. Growth performance was remained unaffected. The present research demonstrates that dietary B. subtilis modulates the allochthonous bacterial communities, as well as, improving the intestinal morphology and localised immunity in European sea bass. Dietary Previda® and Next Enhance 150® were also observed to confer beneficial effects on the gut health of this species. No detrimental effects were observed as a consequence of any of the feed additives used in the present research.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003. / Vita.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves : [89]-95).

Les apports de l’aquaculture représentent aujourd’hui la moitié des produits aquatiques destinés à la consommation humaine. La composition de l’aliment artificiel utilisé en élevage piscicole a fortement évolué ces 30 dernières années. Les produits d’origine végétale terrestre y ont progressivement remplacé les farines et les huiles de poisson lorsque les stocks de pêche minotière utilisés pour leur production se sont rapprochés de leur limite d’exploitation. Toutefois, l’usage exclusif de ces farines et huiles végétales conduit encore à la dégradation de la croissance et de la santé des salmonidés et des poissons marins. Dans le même temps, l’amélioration génétique en pisciculture a permis, depuis 1980, des gains importants sur les caractères de croissance, de santé et de qualité et dispose aujourd’hui de méthodes pour étudier les conséquences de cette profonde transition alimentaire sur les populations actuelles et futures issues des programmes de sélection. En privilégiant la comparaison entre un aliment composé de produits d’origine marine (M) et un aliment entièrement constitué de produits d’origine végétale terrestre (PB), nous avons étudié les voies d’amélioration génétique chez deux espèces majeures du secteur français : le bar européen (Dicentrarchus labrax) et la truite arc-en-ciel (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Dans ce contexte, l’objectif était en particulier d’estimer les héritabilités des caractères d’intérêt et l’importance des interactions génotype-aliment, qui sont à l’origine de reclassement des génotypes en fonction l’aliment utilisé.Les essais réalisés ont confirmés l’effet de la substitution totale sur la croissance et la composition lipidique chez les deux espèces et sur la survie chez le bar. Les héritabilités estimées des poissons nourris avec l’aliment PB pour le poids, la croissance et les paramètres de transformation technologique (rendement carcasse, viscères, tête, filet) sont hautes chez la truite (respectivement 0,69 ; 0,65 ; 0,21-0,58) et modérées chez le bar (respectivement 0,18 et 0,11). Pour ces caractères, les interactions génotype-aliment sont modérées et les corrélations génétiques estimées entre les aliments M et PB sont élevées chez la truite (respectivement 0,90 ; 0,92 ; 0,65-0,96) et chez le bar (respectivement 0,96 ; 0,64). Les gains génétique attendus sont plus élevés avec l’aliment PB qu’avec l’aliment M chez la truite tandis qu’ils sont plus faible chez le bar. La mesure de la réponse à la sélection pour une aptitude à grandir et à survivre en utilisant l’aliment PB a confirmé des gains élevés pour le poids (+35%), la survie (+15,1%) et la biomasse produite (+54,4%) sans impact sur les paramètres de transformation technologique (carcasse, viscères, tête, filet). Les essais réalisés ont confirmé que cette meilleure aptitude était liée à des modifications de l’activité du métabolisme lipidique mais n’ont pas permis de conclure à des liens avec l’ingéré et efficacité alimentaire.Les plus fortes mortalités et le plus faible poids des lots PB durant les jours qui suivent les premières prises alimentaires ainsi que les reclassements familiaux plus importants en début de cycle de vie indiquent que les stades précoces ont une place prépondérante dans l’utilisation de l’aliment d’origine végétale aux niveaux phénotypique et génétique et devront être approfondis.A la vue des résultats obtenus, il semble donc possible d’exploiter la grande plasticité de certaines espèces de poissons pour concevoir des programmes de sélection prenant en compte l’évolution des environnements de production. La limitation mondiale des ressources alimentaire confronte les élevages à des modifications rapides de l’aliment et l’amélioration génétique des cheptels peut aider à faciliter ces transitions alimentaires. / Nowadays, aquaculture contributes to half of the aquatic products intended for human consumption. The composition of aquafeeds strongly evolved in the past 30 years. Terrestrial plant-based products gradually replace fish meal and fish oil, as fish stocks used for their production reach their exploitation limit. However, the use of diets containing vegetable oils and meals only still lead to growth and health degradation in salmonids and marine fish.Besides, breeding programmes in fish farming allowed strong genetic progress, since 1980, on growth, health and quality traits. An important issue for fish breeders is now to understand the consequences of this deep dietary change on the current and future selected populations and to adapt breeding programs accordingly.Focusing on the comparison between two experimental diets, a diet containing marine products (M) and a diet containing only plant-based products, (PB), we investigated the possible impact of the dietary changes on the organization and the objectives of breeding programs in two major species of the French sector: the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). A key objective was to estimate the heritabilities of the main traits of economic interest and the importance of genotype by diet interactions, which may cause genotypes rerankings according to diet used. We also sought the potential origin of the variability for ability to use the PB diet and proposed scenarii for evolution of breeding programs.The trials confirmed that substitution of marine ingredients by vegetal ones decreased growth and lipid composition in both species, as well as survival in sea bass and, to a lesser extent in rainbow trout. The estimates of heritabilities for weight, growth and processing traits (carcass viscera, head and filet yields only measured on trout) when fish were fed with the PB diet were high in rainbow trout (respectively 0.69; 0.65; 0.21-0.58) and weak in sea bass (respectively 0.18 and 0.11). In trout and sea bass, these estimates were respectively higher and lower than those obtained when fish were fed the M diet. For these traits, genotype by diet interactions were moderate and the genetic correlations between the M and PB diets were variable in trout (respectively 0.67-0.90; 0.92; 0.65-0.96) and sea bass (respectively 0.51-0.96; 0.64) but could involve important family rerankings according to the period of survey. According to heritability estimates, expected genetic gains would be higher in trout for fish fed the PB diet than for fish fed the M diet when they would be weaker in sea bass. In trout, the measurement of the response to one generation of selection for the ability to grow and survive when fed the PB diet confirmed the results, and provided high genetic gains for body weight (+35%), survival rate (+15,1%) and produced biomass (+ 54,4%) without any impact on the processing traits (carcass, viscera, head, filet). We showed that this ability was associated to modifications in the lipid metabolism activities but could not establish links with feed intake or feed efficiency from our trials. Higher mortality rate and lower body weight in the PB batches during the first days following distribution of PB diet as well as stronger family rerankings in early steps of the survey indicate than the early stages play a key role in the use of plant-based diet at both phenotypic and genetic levels. Further insights dedicated to these particular stages are strongly needed.Based on present results, it seems possible to exploit the great plasticity of some fish species to conceive breeding programs taking into account a changing dietary environment. Facing the world limitation in food resources, genetic improvement of fish livestock can be a useful lever to facilitate dietary transitions.