BURGENTS, J. E.*; BURNETT, K. G.; BURNETT, L. E.; Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston; Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston; Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston: Enhanced Disease Resistance in the Pacific White Shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, Through the Dietary Administration of a Yeast Culture Food Supplement
Dietary administration of the yeast coat constituent, beta-1,3-glucan, has been reported to enhance disease resistance in shrimp. This study investigated the impacts of feeding a yeast culture feed supplement (Diamond V XP Yeast Culture ®, Diamond V Mills, Cedar Rapids, IA) on disease resistance in the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Animals were fed a normal shrimp diet supplemented with 0 (control) or 1.0% XP daily over a four week period. For in vivo bacterial challenge studies, at 1 week intervals 21 shrimp (0.5 � 2.5g) from each group were injected intramuscularly with an LD50 dose (2.0 x 105/g body weight) of the gram-negative pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Shrimp survival was monitored every 4 hours for 48 hours post-injection. Each week 3 independent bacterial challenge studies were performed. A final percent survival as well as a survival curve were determined for each trial. After 3 weeks of feeding, 48-hour survivals of XP-fed shrimp were 71, 75, and 76%, significantly higher than the control survivals (33, 42, 52%). After 4 weeks, the survivals of XP-fed shrimp (52, 57, 81%) remained higher than the controls (29, 35, 48%). The results of this study indicate that dietary administration of Diamond V yeast culture can enhance the resistance of shrimp to bacterial infections. (Support from Diamond V Mills, Cedar Rapids, IA)
