Improving estimates of trophic shift in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), using measurements of lipogenic enzyme activities in the liver.

To test whether the measurement of selected enzyme activities could be used to estimate more precisely the trophic shift of C isotopes, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were fed semi-synthetic diets differing in their lipid contents (1.7%, 5.0%, 10.8% and 20.0%). The diets were formulated to contain the same amount of nitrogen and metabolizable energy and were made from casein, wheat starch, corn germ oil supplemented with vitamins, minerals and L-arginine. The influence of the different diets on the activity of two lipogenic enzymes, ATP-citrate lyase and malic enzyme, on delta13C values in the whole fish, the liver and their correlation was investigated. There was a strong positive correlation between delta13C values in the lipids of whole fish and those of their livers. The activities of lipogenic enzymes increased significantly with increasing trophic shift of C isotopes (Deltadelta13Cdiet-fish values) in the lipids. If the relationship between trophic shift and enzyme activity can be confirmed in situations where feed quantity and quality are not known, the determination of enzyme activities would enable better estimates of the trophic shift to be made thus significantly improving back-calculation of diets from stable isotope data.