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Metabolites
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Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology in Aquatic Animals
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Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology in Aquatic Animals

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 5381

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Renlei Ji

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
Interests: metabolism; pharmacology; molecular biology; endocrinology; cell biology; metabolic diseases
Dr. Xueshan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
Interests: nutrition and immunity; aquatic metabolism; spotted seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture plays a crucial role in supplying high-quality food for human consumption. However, Intensive aquaculture practices, environmental factors, and the use of terrestrial dietary nutrients can lead to metabolic disorders in aquatic animals, resulting in significant economic losses. Metabolites act as direct indicators of how these animals respond to dietary nutrients and environmental factors, thus reflecting their nutritional, metabolic, and physiological status. Therefore, studying metabolites and metabolic events, along with seeking suitable therapies to alleviate harmful symptoms, is crucial for promoting healthy and sustainable aquaculture practices and ensuring food safety. Over the past few decades, numerous studies have concentrated on identifying metabolites in response to dietary nutrients and environmental factors in aquatic animals, along with key downstream pathways. These efforts provide insight into the overall physiology, offering potential for identifying causal metabolites. However, there are still many unresolved issues and limitations in the current research.

This Special Issue of Metabolites welcomes the submission of original research findings or review articles focused on nutrition, metabolism, and physiology in aquatic animals, with scopes including, but not limited to, the following: 1) exploring new metabolites and their underlying mechanisms, investigating dietary requirements, metabolic processes, and physiological adaptation to dietary and environmental changes; 2) examining the physiological mechanisms governing nutrient absorption and energy metabolism in aquatic organisms; 3) seeking effective strategies to regulate nutrient metabolism and enhance animal health; 4) developing new detection and data analysis tools for targeted and untargeted metabolomics analysis in aquaculture nutrition and physiology.

Dr. Renlei Ji
Dr. Xueshan Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nutrition
  • metabolism
  • physiology
  • metabolism
  • aquaculture
  • metabolome
  • nutrients
  • hazardous materials

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 7978 KiB  
Article
Impact of β-Carotene Enrichment on Carotenoid Composition and Gene Expression in Artemia Metanauplii
by Weilong Wang, Zhuojun Ma, Weiquan Li, Yucai Xue, Amina S. Moss and Meiqin Wu
Metabolites 2024, 14(12), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo14120676 - 3 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1286
Abstract
Background: Carotenoids play essential nutritional and physiological roles in aquatic animals. Since aquatic species cannot synthesize carotenoids de novo, they must obtain these compounds from their diet to meet the physiological and adaptive requirements needed in specific aquaculture stages and conditions. Carotenoid supplementation [...] Read more.
Background: Carotenoids play essential nutritional and physiological roles in aquatic animals. Since aquatic species cannot synthesize carotenoids de novo, they must obtain these compounds from their diet to meet the physiological and adaptive requirements needed in specific aquaculture stages and conditions. Carotenoid supplementation in Artemia represents a promising strategy to enhance pigmentation, health, and growth in aquaculture species, particularly in larvae and other early developmental stages. Methods: In this study, a β-carotene enrichment process was applied to Artemia metanauplii to investigate the biological fate and potential effects of β-carotene. Results: The results indicated significant β-carotene uptake by Artemia, with peak levels observed at 12 h. Alongside β-carotene, two xanthophylls—canthaxanthin and echinenone—were detected in Artemia, each exhibiting distinct patterns during the enrichment and subsequent depletion phases. The transcriptome analysis identified 2705 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), offering valuable insights into gene functions associated with carotenoid absorption, metabolism, and antioxidant mechanisms. The findings suggest that β-carotene enrichment enhances metabolic activity and energy pathways, supporting the physiological functions of Artemia. Notably, unlike other crustaceans, Artemia lack certain enzymes necessary for converting β-carotene into astaxanthin, restricting them to producing keto-carotenoids like canthaxanthin. Furthermore, the study highlights the upregulation of genes encoding lipid transport proteins, such as CD36 and ABC transporters, which may contribute to carotenoid absorption in Artemia. Additional functional insights are provided by the gene BCO2, which regulates pigmentation by preventing excessive carotenoid accumulation, along with ketolase and hydroxylase enzymes in carotenoid metabolic pathways. Conclusions: This research advances our understanding of carotenoid metabolism in crustaceans, with potential implications for aquaculture nutrition and feed formulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology in Aquatic Animals)
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14 pages, 2236 KiB  
Article
Characterizing Growth-Retarded Japanese Eels (Anguilla japonica): Insights into Metabolic and Appetite Regulation
by Xiangbiao Zeng, Jingwei Liu, Yiwen Chen, Huan Han, Yanhe Liu, Bin Xie, Tianwei Jiang, Chris Kong-Chu Wong, Kang Li and Liping Liu
Metabolites 2024, 14(8), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo14080432 - 5 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1915
Abstract
During field surveys and culture procedures, large growth disparities in Anguilla japonica have been observed. However, the potential causes are unknown. This study explored differences in digestive ability, metabolic levels, and transcriptomic profiles of appetite-related genes between growth-retarded eel (GRE) and normal-growing eel [...] Read more.
During field surveys and culture procedures, large growth disparities in Anguilla japonica have been observed. However, the potential causes are unknown. This study explored differences in digestive ability, metabolic levels, and transcriptomic profiles of appetite-related genes between growth-retarded eel (GRE) and normal-growing eel (NGE) under the same rearing conditions. The results showed that growth hormone (gh) mRNA expression in GREs was considerably lower than NGEs. The levels of total protein (TP), total cholesterol (T-CHO), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), blood ammonia (BA), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in GREs were significantly lower than in NGEs. Conversely, levels of glucose (GLU), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) were higher in GREs. The activities of SOD, CAT, and T-AOC levels were also significantly lower in GREs, as were the activities of glucose-related enzymes including hexokinase (HK), pyruvate kinase (PK), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PASE). Additionally, orexigenic genes (npy and ghrelin) were dramatically downregulated, whereas anorexigenic genes (crh and pyy) were significantly upregulated in GREs. These findings suggested that variances in growth hormone, metabolic activities, and appetite level could be associated with the different growth rates of A. japonica. The present research not only revealed the characteristics of the growth, metabolism, and appetite of GREs but also offered new perspectives into the substantial growth discrepancies in A. japonica, providing novel ideas for enhancing fish growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology in Aquatic Animals)
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19 pages, 6639 KiB  
Article
Combination of Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analyses Provides Insights into the Mechanisms of Growth Differences in Spotted Seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus) Fed a Low-Phosphorus Diet
by Nan Jin, Ling Wang, Kai Song, Kangle Lu, Xueshan Li and Chunxiao Zhang
Metabolites 2024, 14(8), 406; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo14080406 - 25 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1166
Abstract
To analyze the potential mechanisms of growth differences in spotted seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus) fed a low-phosphorus diet, a total of 150 spotted seabass with an initial body weight of 4.49 ± 0.01 g were used (50 fish per tank) and fed [...] Read more.
To analyze the potential mechanisms of growth differences in spotted seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus) fed a low-phosphorus diet, a total of 150 spotted seabass with an initial body weight of 4.49 ± 0.01 g were used (50 fish per tank) and fed a low-phosphorus diet for eight weeks. At the end of the experiment, five of the heaviest and five of the lightest fish were selected from each tank as fast-growing spotted seabass (FG) and slow-growing spotted seabass (SG), respectively, and their livers were analyzed by metabolomics and transcriptomics. The hepatic antioxidant capacity of the FG fed a low-phosphorus diet was significantly higher than that of the SG. A total of 431 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were determined in the two groups, and most of the DEGs were involved in metabolism-related pathways such as steroid biosynthesis, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and protein digestion and absorption. Substance transport-related regulators and transporters were predominantly up-regulated. Furthermore, a large number of metabolites in the liver of FG were significantly up-regulated, especially amino acids, decanoyl-L-carnitine and dehydroepiandrosterone. The integration analysis of differential metabolites and genes further revealed that the interaction between protein digestion and absorption, as well as phenylalanine metabolism pathways were significantly increased in the liver of FG compared to those of the SG. In general, FG fed a low-phosphorus diet induced an enhancement in hepatic immune response, substance transport, and amino acid metabolism. This study provides new information on genetic mechanisms and regulatory pathways underlying differential growth rate and provides a basis for the foundation of efficient utilization of low-phosphorus diets and selective breeding programs for spotted seabass. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition, Metabolism and Physiology in Aquatic Animals)
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