Dietary Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds oil supplementation augments growth performance and gut microbial composition in Labeo rohita fingerlings

Abstract

The present study investigates the supplemental effects of chia seed oil (CSO) on the growth performance and modulation of intestinal microbiota in Labeo rohita fingerlings. Four diets were formulated with graded levels of CSO: 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% represented as CSO (1), CSO (2), and, CSO (3) groups alongside a control group without CSO. L. rohita fingerlings (n = 180) (mean weight = 19.74 ± 0.33 g) were randomly distributed in triplicates for 60 days to these treatment groups. The results depicted significant improvements (p < 0.05) in weight gain (WG) %, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) in the group supplemented with the lowest level of CSO. Gut microbial analysis evidenced the ability of CSO at 1.0% to augment the relative abundance of bacterial phyla such as Verrucomicrobiota, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidota, Fusobacteria and Firmicutes, as well as genera Luteolibacter and Cetobacterium, indicating higher alpha diversity compared to the control. Principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) demonstrated a distinct composition of microbial communities in CSO-supplemented groups relative to the control (p < 0.001). Correlation analysis further revealed a significant (p < 0.05) association of specific microbial taxa with growth performance parameters. The predictions of metabolic pathways suggested the involvement of carbohydrate and amino acid metabolic pathways in the CSO (1) group, indicating improved nutrient transport and metabolism. Overall, the findings highlight the beneficial effects of 1.0% CSO supplementation on growth performance and modulation of gut microbiota in L. rohita fingerlings.

Keywords: Labeo rohita; 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing; Chia seed oil; growth performance; intestinal microbiota.

Fig. 1

Relative abundance of top ‘n’ gut microbial communities in CSO supplemented L. rohita. phylum level (n = 10) b) genus level (n = 15), respectively. Taxa below 1% relative abundance were clubbed together as “others.” Taxa with asterisk (*) mark were statistically different among the treatment groups (Kruskal–Wallis test). (*: p ≤ 0.05; **: p ≤ 0.01; ***: p ≤ 0.001).

Fig. 2

Heatmap showing average of 16 S rRNA gene OTUs between different experimental groups of L. rohita supplemented with CSO. The colour of the heatmap indicates the relative abundance ranging from dark red (higher) to dark blue (lower abundances), as represented by the values in the annotation bar.

Fig. 3

Alpha diversity of gut microbiome from experimental treatment groups of chia seed oil (CSO) supplemented L. rohita fingerlings represented by (a) Chao1 index (b) Shannon index (c) Simpson index and (d) Fisher index at the phylum level. Groups with asterisk (*) mark are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05.

Fig. 4

Principle Coordinate analysis (PCoA) of intestinal microbiota of different CSO treatment groups at phylum level.

Fig. 5

Venn Diagram representing the unique and shared OTUs among the experimental groups.

Fig. 6

Principle Component analysis (PCA) of growth indices (indicated in green) with major bacterial phyla (indicated in blue) within different CSO supplemented treatment groups (highlighted in yellow).

Fig. 7

Correlation network among the major bacterial phyla (> 1% relative abundance) of CSO supplemented treatment groups.

Fig. 8

Differentially expressed metabolic pathways predicted across CSO supplemented treatment groups. https://www.genome.jp/kegg/ko.html.