Cellularity and expression of muscle growth related genes in pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) juvenile fed on different protein levels

• Grant number: 10/19763-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2011
• End date: November 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Maeli Dal Pai
• Grantee: Fernanda Regina Carani
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pirarucu is a fish species of great interest to aquaculture and its breeding under intensive system has been presented as an ecologically and economically important alternative for farming programs. In order to optimize their development and promote its conservation, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of feeding pirarucu with different levels of crude protein of animal origin on morphological and cellularity characteristics in white muscle fibers, as well as its effects on muscle growth control factors. One hundred ninety-two animals will be randomly divided into 4 experimental groups underwent the following treatments: T1A: 40% crude protein (½ of animal origin); T1B: 40% crude protein (¼ of animal origin) ; T2A: 45% crude protein (½ of animal origin); T2B: 45% crude protein (¼ of animal origin). During the experiment, biometry and muscle samples collection will be conducted. The morphological and morphometric analysis will be done by histological sections stained with HE and smaller diameter measurement. The quantitative analysis of MyoD, Myogenin and Myostatin genes expression will be performed using qRT-PCR methods. The protein location as well as the counting of labeled nuclei will be done by Immunofluorescence. (AU)