Gills plasticity of juvenile pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus - Holmberg, 1887) under stress conditions and fed with bovine colostrum

• Grant number: 14/21500-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2015
• End date: February 12, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Raul Machado Neto
• Grantee: Wiolene Montanari Nordi
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Gills are organs responsible for respiration and ion exchange between the fish internal environment and water. Changing patterns in water quality can induce a condition of stress and adjustment in gill structure of an attempt to combat the challenge imposed. These gill epithellium changes compromise the physiological processes and therefore the fish health. In this investigation, antioxidant properties of bovine colostrum are unprecedentedly used in order to minimize or reduce the plasticity of gill epithelium in front of a stressor, when ingested by juvenile pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmberg, 1887). In such a situation will be characterized histology architecture of gills, the ion profile and the plasma glucose concentration.Juvenile pacu will be adapted for 10 days in 12 tanks with the same densities (11 kg fish/m3). During the adaptation and experimental period fish will be fed four diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% of lyophilized bovine colostrum inclusion, considering triplicate for each diet, twice a day. After adaptation period, juveniles will be stocked at high density (20 kg fish/m3) for 30 days and after that, nine juveniles of each treatment will be used to collecting samples of gill tissue. Histomorphometric, stereological, immunohistochemistry, quantification of goblet cell, histomorphological and ultrastructural analysis will be performed. Blood samples will be used to plasma ions and glucose concentration analysis. (AU)