Diet with the microalgae Tetraselmis sp. and Skeletonema dorhnii modifies the composition of glycerophospholipids in Apostichopus japonicus sea cucumbers
摘要
The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is one of the most commercially valuable species in both fisheries and aquaculture due to its nutritional value and high content of biologically active compounds. To evaluate the effect of the microalgae Tetraselmis sp. and Skeletonema dorhnii on the growth and phospholipid molecular species composition of juvenile A. japonicus, a 3-month feeding experiment was set up. The diet of sea cucumbers supplemented with these microalgae improved their survival rate (up to 74% for the diet with S. dorhnii) and weight gain (with Tetraselmis sp. showing the highest growth promotion). A lipidomic analysis with high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry identified 146 phospholipid (PL) molecular species from four classes (glycerophosphoethanolamines (PE), glycerophosphocholines (PC), glycerophosphoserines (PS), and glycerophosphoinositols (PI)). The microalgae-fed groups showed the increased levels of 20:5- and 22:6-containing PS and PI in the microalgae-fed groups.. The elevated levels of ether-linked PC and PE in the control (microalgae-free) group might indicate an adaptive membrane remodeling. Our results demonstrate that the supplementation of diet with microalgae may selectively modulate PL profiles, that may improve the membrane function and potentially enhance stress adaptation in cultured A. japonicus.