Probiotic Applications in Temperate and Warm Water Fish Species - Aquaculture Nutrition: Gut Health, Probiotics and Prebiotics - page 272

who reported reduced intestinal damage following Aeromonas challenges. Similarly, Standen
et al . (2013) reported that P. acidilactici treatment may potentiate the immuno-responsiveness
of the tilapia intestine as demonstrated by up-regulation of intestinal TNFα gene expression
and elevated IEL and goblet cell levels. Liu et al . (2013) fed various levels of Lb. brevis or
Lb. acidophilus to hybrid tilapia for 35 days and assessed gene expression profiles (HSP70,
TGF-β,IL-1β and TNFα) in the intestine, spleen and kidney at several time points. The findings
revealed a complex pattern for each probiotic strain, dose, time point and organ for each gene
assessed. In the intestine, elevations in the expression of all the genes tested were observed at
some time points with some doses but the responses were not consistent. Feeding the highest
dose (1 × 10 9 cells g -1 )of Lb. brevis produced the most consistent effect with elevated HSP70
(at days 10 and 35), TGF-β (day 35), IL-1β (days 10 and 35) and TNFα (day 35) mRNA levels
compared to the control. The expression profiles were also inconsistent to some extent in the
spleen and kidney but the fish fed the highest dose of Lb. brevis commonly exhibited higher
HSP70, TGF-β,IL-1β and TNFα gene expression in both organs. Subsequently, the mortal-
ity rate of tilapia after an A. hydrophila immersion challenge was significantly lower in this
treatment group than in the control.
A number of other probiotic studies have also reported improved disease resistance of probi-
otic treated tilapia. Elevated survival against A.hydrophila challenge has been reported with the
application of Micrococcus luteus (Abd El-Rhman et al . 2009), S. cerevisiae (Abdel-Tawwab
et al . 2008), Lb. brevis (Liu et al . 2013), Lb. acidophilus (Aly et al . 2008b; Villamil et al .
2012; Liu et al . 2013) and B. subtilis (Aly et al . 2008b). In addition, elevated resistance has
been observed against Edwardsiella tarda with Lb. rhamnosus (Pirarat et al . 2006), against
Str. iniae with B. subtilis (Aly et al . 2008b) and Lb . acidophilus (Aly et al . 2008b), and against
Pseudomonasluorescens with B.subtilis (Aly etal . 2008b), Lb . acidophilus (Aly etal . 2008b)
and Lb. plantarum (Abumourad et al . 2013).
10.7 CARPS
By volume, carps account for the largest component of fish culture production globally. Total
production in 2011 exceeded 23 million tonnes, with production predominantly in China (16
million tonnes) and India (4 million tonnes) (FAO FIGIS 2013). Important species include
silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix , 5.3 million tonnes), grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon
idellus , 4.5 million tonnes), common carp ( Cyprinus carpio , 3.7 million tonnes), Crucian carp
( Carassius carassius , 2.9 million tonnes), catla ( Catla catla , 2.4 million tonnes), Indian major
carp/rohu ( Labeo rohita , 1.4 million tonnes) and mrigal ( Cirrhinus mrigala , 340,000 tonnes).
Probiotic applications have been reported in Indian major carp, catla, common carp, grass carp,
koi carp ( Cyprinus carpio koi ) and gibel carp ( Carassius auratus gibelio ) (refer to Table 10.6).
10.7.1 Effects of probiotics on carp growth
Improved growth performance has been reported in Indian major carp ( Labeo rohita )fed B.
subtilis (Kumar et al . 2006), B. circulans (Ghosh et al . 2002; 2003), Lb. plantarum (Giri et al .
2013a), combinations of B . subtilis + Lc . lactis + S . cerevisiae (Mohapatra et al . 2012a;
2012b) and combinations of B. subtilis + Pseudomonas aeruginosa + Lb. plantarum (Giri
et al . 2013b); common carp fed Bacillus sp., Lb. acidophilus , E. faecium , photosynthetic bac-
teria and S. cerevisiae (Bogut et al . 1998; Yanbo and Zirong 2006; Ramakrishnan et al . 2008);