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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1428807

Effects of non-uniformity of water body on the expressions of relevant functional genes associated with feeding, oxidative stress, and growth in Oryzias melastigma

Provisionally accepted
Yongjian Xu Yongjian Xu *Jun Lu Jun Lu Kai Sun Kai Sun
  • Ningbo University, Ningbo, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Aquaculture ponds often accumulate substantial amounts of organic matter at the bottom, which typically results in uneven distribution of water quality around the pond, imposing additional environmental stress on cultured fish and impacting their growth. This study investigated the effects of water quality heterogeneity on feeding, oxidative stress, and growth-related gene expressions in marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) by examining differences in retention time within various water quality zones within the same aquaculture system. Results showed that expression levels of feeding-related genes of Npy, Gal, Pyy, Mc4r, and Mtor were downregulated in marine medaka, while antioxidant genes Sod, Gst, Hsp70, and Hsp90 were upregulated. Furthermore, growth-related genes Gh, Igf1, and Mstn exhibited downregulated expression. Under conditions of water quality nonuniformity, fish increasingly allocate energy towards coping with stress, thereby reducing energy available for growth. Despite a decrease in appetite, the suppression of feeding-inhibitory gene expressions did not effectively enhance food intake or energy consumption, leading to a prolonged state of hunger and reduced appetite in marine medaka. The weakening of appetite due to water quality heterogeneity is likely one of the key reasons behind the decline in growth rate observed. These findings may contribute to improving the welfare of fish in captivity.

    Keywords: quality, Non-uniformity, Oxidative Stress, Growth, Oryzias melastigma

    Received: 07 May 2024; Accepted: 17 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xu, Lu and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yongjian Xu, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.