Differential responses of the gut transcriptome to plant protein diets in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Background: The potential for alternative plant protein sources to replace limited marine ingredients in fish feeds is important for the future of the fish farming industry. However, plant ingredients in fish feeds contain antinutritional factors (ANFs) that can promote gut inflammation (enteritis) and compromise fish health. It is unknown whether enteritis induced by plant materials with notable differences in secondary metabolism is characterised by common or distinct gene expression patterns, and how using feeds with single vs mixed plant proteins may affect the gut transcriptome and fish performance.

Replacement of dietary soy- with air classified faba bean protein concentrate alters the hepatic transcriptome in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr.

The production of carnivorous fish such as Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is dependent on the availability of high quality proteins for feed formulations. For a number of nutritional, strategic and economic reasons, the use of plant proteins has steadily increased over the years, however a major limitation is associated with the presence of anti-nutritional factors and the nutritional profile of the protein concentrate. Investigating novel raw materials involves understanding the physiological consequences associated with the dietary inclusion of protein concentrates.

Effects of dietary vegetable oil on Atlantic salmon hepatocyte fatty acid desaturation and liver fatty acid compositions.

Fatty acyl desaturase activities, involved in the conversion of the C18 EFA 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 to the highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3, are known to be under nutritional regulation. Specifically, the activity of the desaturation/elongation pathway is depressed when animals, including fish, are fed fish oils rich in n-3 HUFA compared to animals fed vegetable oils rich in C18 EFA. The primary aims of the present study were (i) to establish the relative importance of product inhibition (n-3 HUFA) vs.