Effects of feeding frequency on liver transcriptome and appetite-regulating peptides in a short intestine, agastric teleost (Chirostoma estor)

The Mexican pike silverside (Chirostoma estor) is a zooplanktophagous, agastric short-intestine species, and it has been found that a feeding of 12 times a day improved performance in C. estor juveniles. Therefore, this work determined the effect of different feeding frequencies in the C. estor liver transcriptome. Furthermore, the expression level of appetite-regulating peptides was analyzed to understand appetite control in this species. The differential up-regulated genes were related to metabolic, digestive processes, immune system response, apoptosis, growth, and oxidative stress. Appetite regulatory peptides were identified for the first time in C. estor liver in response to high feeding frequencies.