Effects of DL-methionine and a methionine hydroxy analogue (MHA-Ca) on growth, amino acid profiles and the expression of genes related to taurine and protein synthesis in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Abstract In this trial, nine diets were formulated to investigate the effects of DL-methionine (DL-Met) and a methionine hydroxy analogue (MHA-Ca) on growth, amino acid profiles and the expression of genes related to taurine and protein synthesis in common carp. The basal diet was prepared without methionine supplementation and the other diets were formulated with 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% of DL-Met or MHA-Ca, respectively. After the eight-week feeding trial, fish fed with DL-Met or MHA-Ca supplemented diets had higher growth performance and feed utilization when compared with basal diet and two-way ANOVA showed the growth performance and feed utilization were significantly increased in fish fed DL-Met supplemented diets (P