February 15-18, 2009 Washington State Convention Center Seattle ...

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MATERNAL LIPID NUTRITION AFFECTS ZEBRAFISH Danio rerio OOCYTE FATTY
ACID COMPOSITION AND FERTILIZATION SUCCESS BUT NOT LARVAL GROWTH OR
SURVIVAL
Jesse Trushenski, Dan Theisen and Curry Woods*
Department of Animal and Avian Sciences
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742 USA
Lipid nutrition can influence reproductive performance in finfish, as well as alter oocyte lipid composition. In turn, alterations
in oocyte fatty acid (FA) composition can affect gamete quality and larval vigor. Provision of long-chain, polyunsaturated FA
(LC-PUFA) has proven critical for ensuring reproductive and progeny success in several species. We assessed whether differences
in nutritional history, i.e. differential intake of LC-PUFA, among zebrafish broodstock, influence oocyte FA composition
and viability of the resultant progeny.
Adult zebrafish were stocked into 3, 10-L tanks (20 females + 10 males/tank) within a recirculation system. Each tank was fed
ad libidum for 4 weeks according to 1 of 3 experimental feeding regimens: feeding commercial feed only (“Z”; Complete Adult
Zebrafish feed, Zeigler Bros., Inc., Gardners, PA, USA), 2) commercial feed + live Artemia spp. (“Z+A”; San Francisco Bay
Brand, Aquatic Ecosystems, Inc., Apopka, FL, USA), or 3) commercial feed + freeze-dried copepods (“Z+C”; Cyclop-eeze®,
Argent Chemical Laboratories, Redmond, WA, USA) After completion of the conditioning period, oocytes were collected
weekly until 5 replicate spawns (N=5) of 100+ oocytes were recovered from each experimental group.
Oocyte FA profile reflected broodstock nutritional history. Oocytes from the Z and Z+C groups contain greater amounts of
LC-PUFA, whereas those from the Z+A group contained more monounsaturates (MUFA) and medium-chain polyunsaturates
(MC-PUFA). Hatch, larval survival and growth were equivalent among the experimental groups, however, fertilization
success was significantly greater among the Z and Z+C groups. Our data suggest oocyte LC-PUFA concentrations are related
to fertilization success in zebrafish, and failure to provide sufficient amounts of these FA in broodstock diets may impact larval
production.