Ontogenic development of digestive enzyme activities in juvenile soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) under cultured conditions

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the ontogenic development of main digestive enzymes (pepsin, trypsin, amylase and lipase) activities in juvenile soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) (initial mean bodyweight 3.63±0.27 g), in order to provide data on the digestive physiology of the juveniles during the first 30 days after hatching (DAH). The soft-shelled turtles were reared in an indoor rearing system, and fed with a formulated diet four times daily from 2 to 30 DAH. The results showed that the specific growth rate (SGR) of soft-shelled turtle ranged from 1.31 to 4.00%/d during the first 30 DAH. The specific activities of pepsin in stomachic segments, trypsin, amylase and lipase in intestinal segments first decreased slightly then increased to the maximum value (P<0.05). The specific activities of these enzymes were first detected on 1 DAH, and the lowest values were observed from 4 to 6 DAH, while the highest values were found from 22 to 30 DAH. Results of the present study indicated that the activities of digestive enzymes in soft-shelled turtle developed during the development and were well correlated with growth.

Key words： soft-shelled turtle; Pelodiscus sinensis; juvenile; growth; enzyme activity

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Project of Hangzhou Producing, Study and Researching Cooperation of China (No. 20092632E27). Thanks are given to Dr. Goufang Zhong, Houguo Xu, Dr. Yan Li and Dr. Fengjun Xie for their helpful suggestions in the paper modification and also to Yunfei Wang, Haoyuan Wan, Xueqing Mei, Xiang Chen, Wei Huang, Lijun Li and Fuchun Lu in Hangzhou Wensli Biology Science and Technology Stock Co. Ltd. for their help during the experiment.

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