Fructooligosaccharide supplementation in diets for tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) juvenile: Effects on morphophysiology and intestinal barrier function

Supplementary fructooligosaccharides (FOS) were evaluated on growth, survival, gut morphology, digestive enzyme activity and expression of intestinal barrier genes in tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus). Four treatments were designed to include FOS (5, 10, 15 and 20 g/Kg) and were compared with a control (0 g/Kg) and the current commercial trout diet. Ten fish were stocked (0.25 ± 0.01 g and 4.2 ± 0.4 cm total length) per experimental unit by triplicate in a 45-day experiment. Fish fed with 5 and 10 g/Kg of FOS had the highest average weight and total average length. Fish fed 5 g/Kg FOS showed the best growth indexes (absolute weight gain: 2.16; specific growth rate: 4.96; and feed conversion rate: 1.23) and survival (96.66%) and also had the highest acid protease, chymotrypsin and leucine aminopeptidase activities. Fish fed 5 g/Kg FOS had a high absorption area and accumulation of lipids in the liver. Finally, relative overexpression of occluding (occ), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-2 (nod2) and mucin 2 (muc2) was detected in fish fed 10 and 15 g/Kg FOS. The supplementation between 5 and 10 g/Kg FOS in diets for A. tropicus juveniles could be beneficial for growth, digestive enzyme activities, gut morphology and intestinal barrier function.Fil: Sepúlveda Quiroz, Cesar Antonio. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Peña Marín, Emyr Saul. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Pérez Morales, Alfredo. Universidad de Colima; MéxicoFil: Martínez García, Rafael. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Alvarez Villagomez, Carina Shianya. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Maytorena Verdugo, Claudia Ivette. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Camarillo Coop, Susana. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; MéxicoFil: Vissio, Paula Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Sirkin, Daniela Irina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Tovar Ramírez, Dariel. Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste; MéxicoFil: Galaviz, Mario. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur; MéxicoFil: Álvarez González, Carlos Alfonso. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco; Méxic