Analysis of Gene Expression, Nutritional Quality and Fatty Acid Content of Improved Strains of Tilapia Reared in Lined Ponds
Antony Heniton
Department of Aquaculture, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Thootukudi - 628 008, Tamil Nadu, India.
Samraj Anand
Aquatic Rainbow Technology Park, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Madhavaram Campus, Chennai ‒ 600 051, Tamil Nadu, India.
Daniel Naganathan
Department of Aquaculture, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Thootukudi - 628 008, Tamil Nadu, India.
Raghu Tamilmani
Department of Biotechnology, Priest University, Thanjavur ‒ 613 403, Tamil Nadu, India.
Manikandan Boominathan
Department of Fisheries Extension Economics and Statistics, Fisheries College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Thootukudi - 628 008, Tamil Nadu, India.
Sangavi Sivan
Trichy Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Jeeyapuram, Trichy ‒ 639 101, Tamil Nadu, India.
Anand
Mandapam Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Ramanathapuram – 623 519, Tamil Nadu, India.
Somu Sunder Lingam *
Krishnagiri Barur Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, Barur, Krishnagiri ‒ 635 201, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A six-month field trial was conducted to compare the gene expression patterns and meat quality traits of two improved tilapia strains: Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) and red tilapia. All-male fingerlings of red tilapia (24.09 ± 0.55 g) and GIFT (24.04 ± 0.51 g) were stocked at a density of 3 fingerlings/m² (30,000 fingerlings/ha) across six randomly assigned experimental ponds. Fish were fed with commercial diets twice daily at 3–5% of their body weight. Gene expression analysis revealed notable upregulation of IGF-1 (3.00 ± 0.39), IGF-2 (5.53 ± 1.01), MyoD (3.28 ± 0.54) and myogenin (2.44 ± 0.37) in GIFT indicating enhanced myogenic activity compared to red tilapia, whereas meat quality assessment demonstrated that red tilapia possessed lower moisture (74.73%) and higher dry matter content (25.27%) than GIFT. Red tilapia also exhibited superior textural properties reflected in higher hardness, gumminess and chewiness values. Fatty acid profiling further showed significantly elevated polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels and PUFA/SFA ratios in red tilapia (19.25 ± 1.72%; 0.50 ± 0.09) compared to GIFT (12.77 ± 0.88%; 0.24 ± 0.11). The findings suggest that GIFT tilapia displayed elevated expression of growth-related genes which helps in better growth performance whereas red tilapia possessed favourable meat quality traits, particularly in texture and fatty acid profile.
Keywords: GIFT, tilapia, growth genes, fillet quality, proximate composition, fillet traits, texture quality