Protease-producing Bacillus strains from Kochi and their effects on growth and digestive enzyme activity of juvenile Snubnose pompano

Sultana, Rasiya and Imelda, Joseph (2025) Protease-producing Bacillus strains from Kochi and their effects on growth and digestive enzyme activity of juvenile Snubnose pompano. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 93. pp. 1-10. ISSN 2352-4855

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Abstract

The study investigated the capacity of a novel probiotic consortium, from the screening of potential strains to its application, providing insights to current measures of sustainability in aquaculture practices followed in the south west coast of India. Each candidate bacterial strain, screened from Kochi, south west coast of India was evaluated for probiotic features of cell surface hydrophobicity, auto aggregation capacity and biofilm forming ability. The goal was to get preliminary insights in to the efficacy of the novel consortium. A feeding trial determined the effects in growth performance of Trachinotus blochii juvenile when fed with commercial feed substituted with graded levels of the consortium, comprising—Bacillus aerius sourced from marine sediment, B. altitudinis from seawater, and B. pumilus from the gut of adult Trachinotus blochii. At the end of the feeding trial, the growth parameters: weight gain percentage, specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and feed conversion ratio (FCR); and digestive protease activity was assessed. The results revealed a significant improvement (p < 0.05) in the growth performance of the juvenile Snubnose pompano that were supplied with the probiotic strains when compared to a control group fed with a commercial fish diet devoid of any probiotic supplementation. The optimum dietary supplementation level for the novel probiotic consortium was identified as 107 CFU/g. The results will contribute to the current knowledge base on both gut microbiome of T. blochii, and the probiotic supplementation practice for commercially important finfishes.

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