Nutritional programming in Nile tilapia

Nutritional programming is the idea that early nutrient contributions can influence organismal structure or function and is documented in a variety of vertebrates, yet studies in fish are largely lacking. Tilapia are an important foodfish worldwide, with global production having increased exponentially since 1985. They exhibit high disease-resistance and grow well on formulated feeds which makes them an ideal aquaculture species, however incorporating high quality proteins into the feeds can be costly. As feed constitutes 50-70% of total production costs in aquaculture, reducing the protein content could greatly reduce these costs and increase revenue. Thus, we examined the effects of feeding fry a low protein diet for the first 7-21 days on the growth, gut microbial flora, and intestinal transcriptome of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).