Cottonseed protein concentrate is a sustainable fishmeal alternative in aquafeed. A 10-week experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of a cottonseed protein concentrate-based diet with and without multi-strain yeast fractions (MsYF) on growth, bile acid metabolism, and health in largemouth bass. Four hundred fish (54.0 ± 0.0 g) were casually distributed into 16 tanks (4 replicates/diet). Fish were fed with 4 iso-nitrogen and iso-energetic diets 3 times daily, including a fishmeal diet (FM), a soy protein concentrate-based diet (SPC; replacing 81% fishmeal protein), a cottonseed protein concentrate-based diet (CPC; replacing 81% fishmeal protein), and a CPC diet supplemented with 800 mg/kg MsYF (CPCY). Results showed that the survival of SPC was the lowest, i.e., 48%, with no apparent diet effect among other treatments; we omitted the SPC in additional analyses. Fish fed cottonseed protein concentrate-based diets showed lower growth than FM (P < 0.05). Fish fed CPC showed the highest nuclear dense hepatic phenotypes ratio (50%), followed by CPCY (33%) and FM (17%). Further, dietary CPC increased hepatic total cholesterol and triglyceride levels with concurrently increased cholesterol synthesis but decreased triglyceride synthesis-associated transcription levels (P < 0.05). Furthermore, dietary CPC increased bile acid synthesis but decreased bile acid transport-associated transcription levels (P < 0.05), and then induced an increment of plasma cholic acid and hepatic chenodeoxycholic acid content and the decrement of genus Romboustia (P < 0.05). Regarding the effect of MsYF, fish fed CPCY reduced hepatic lipid accumulation and total plasma bile acid content (P < 0.05) compared to CPC, suggesting an improvement in liver health. Also, dietary MsYF could reverse the microbiota community structure showing a similar gut microbial composition to FM. In conclusion, 81% of fishmeal protein replaced by cottonseed protein concentrate suppressed growth and liver health, while dietary MsYF might mitigate the negative impact of a high cottonseed protein concentrate level diet on liver functions via gut microbiota regulation.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |