IN SILICO ANALYSIS AND OVARY FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF COBIA FISH (RACHYCENTRON CANADUM)

Abstract

There has been not much information available related to the diet formulation for female Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) fish. This study characterized ovary fatty acid composition of female Cobia in their different gonad maturation stages and predicted the mechanism of HUFA (DHA/docosahexaenoic acid, EPA/eicosapentaenoic acid, and AA/arachidonic acid) in supporting gonad maturation through an in silico analysis. Fish samples consisted of three (3) categories: (1) prospective broodstocks – immature (initial development); (2) prospective broodstocks – maturing (middle development); and (3) broodstocks – mature (advanced development). The in silico analysis was done through a molecular docking between ligand (DHA, EPA, and AA) and receptors Lpl, Fatp, Fabp, and Mttp. Our findings showed that fatty acids tended to increase along with the development of the ovary. The highest fatty acids for group 1 was C16:0>C18:1n9c>DHA, for group 2 was C18:1n9c>C16:0>DHA, and for group 3 was DHA>C16:0>C18:1n9c. DHA increased significantly during gonad maturation and the vice versa happened to EPA, while AA increased significantly at the end of gonad maturation. This affected, among others, the ratio of DHA/EPA and DHA/AA—DHA/EPA ration increased along with gonad maturation, while the opposite happened for DHA/AA ratio. The results of the in silico analysis showed that DHA had the smallest binding affinity for docking with Lpl, Fatp, and Fapb compared to EPA and AA. This means that DHA was predicted to have a strong binding with receptors during the oocyte lipidation. DHA also had the smallest binding affinity for docking with Mttp compared to EPA and AA. This means that DHA was predicted to have a strong binding with receptors in Vtg lipidation compared to EPA and AA.

Keywords

• cobia (rachycentron canadum)
• fatty acid
• ovary
• in silico