Effects of dietary essential fatty acid requirements on growth performance, fatty acid composition, biochemical parameters, antioxidant response and lipid related genes expression in juvenile Onychostoma macrolepis

Abstract This study was conducted to elucidate effects of dietary essential fatty acid requirements on the growth, physiological characteristics and expressions of some lipid-related genes in juvenile Onychostoma macrolepis. Seven isonitrogenous and isoenergetic purified diets containing tristearin (control group), 2% linoleic acid (LA), 2% α-linolenic acid (LNA), 1% LA + 1% LNA, 1% eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 1% docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and 0.5% EPA + 0.5% DHA were formulated to feed juvenile O.macrolepis (initial body weight:1.51 ± 0.05 g) for eight weeks. The weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed efficiency (FE) of the fish were significantly higher in the LNA group and the EPA + DHA group than in the control group (P