Effect of microencapsulated probiotic Bacillus vireti 01-polysaccharide extract of Gracilaria folifera with alginate-chitosan on immunity, antioxidant activity and disease resistance of Macrobrachium rosenbergii against Aeromonas hydrophila infection.

Polysaccharide from red seaweed Gracilaria folifera has an interesting functional property of antioxidant activity and prebiotic effect. A feeding trial experiment was directed to examine the effect of probiotic bacteria Bacillus vireti 01 microencapsulated with G. folifera polysaccharide against freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii. Three different feeding trials were conducted for 15 days. The first group contained prawns fed with commercial diet. The second group was comprised of Aeromonas hydrophila challenged prawns fed with commercial feed. The third group consisted of A. hydrophila challenged prawns fed with microencapsulated probiotic-polysaccharide. Survival percentage was significantly decreased in prawns of group2 as compared to that of group1 and group3 prawns (p < 0.0001). The immunological parameters and antioxidant activities (p < 0.001) were found to be increased in group three prawns which were fed with encapsulated probiotic-seaweed polysaccharide and challenged with A. hydrophila as compared to that of group1 and group2. Tissue necrosis, fused lamella, haemocyte infiltration and damage of hepatopancreas lumen and tubule were noted in group2 prawns. There was no histological changes were observed in group3 prawns in which the histological architecture was similar to the control group1. The results suggested that combination of encapsulated probiotic B. vireti 01 and seaweed polysaccharide as dietary feed showed an enhancement of immune response, antioxidant activity and disease resistant of M. rosenbergii against A. hydrophila.

Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Novel Probiotic Bacteria Bacillus vireti 01 on Antioxidant Defence System of Freshwater Prawn Challenged with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The aim of the present work was to isolate probiotic bacteria from the intestinal tract of healthy freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii and to examine the effect of the isolated probiotic Bacillus vireti 01 in controlling Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. This is probably the first report on the isolation of probiotic B. vireti 01 from the intestine of M. rosenbergii. The compounds present in B. vireti 01 were identified using GC-MS analysis. The effect of B. vireti 01-incorporated diet on survival and antioxidant enzymes was studied in M. rosenbergii for 2 weeks. Decreased mortality was observed in M. rosenbergii which were administered with the probiotic diet compared to control diet. The antioxidant defence enzymes activities such as SOD, catalase and GSH were analysed in various organs of M. rosenbergii probiotic-treated and control groups. Antioxidant enzyme activities were considerably lowered (p < 0.01) in the muscles, hepatopancreas and gills of prawns infected by P. aeruginosa when compared to that of prawns fed with the probiotic-supplemented diet. The histopathological results suggest that the hepatopancreas, gills and muscles infected with P. aeruginosa were altered structurally. The result of the present work demonstrates that the probiotic B. vireti 01 could be used as a substitute to antibiotics for treating P. aeruginosa infection in prawns.