Previously, a series of clonal alloantigen-dependent T cell lines established from the channel catfish revealed distinctly different TCR beta rearrangements. Here, a follow-up study of the junctional diversity of these TCR gene rearrangements focuses on characterization of the genomic organization of the TCRB locus. Surprisingly, a total of 29 JB genes and two substantially different CB genes w...

The freshwater bacterial pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, infects a variety of ornamental and farmed fish species worldwide through mucosal attachment points on the gill and skin. While previous studies have demonstrated a chemotactic response of F. columnare to fish mucus, little is known about how host gill mucosal molecular and cellular constituents may impact rates of adhesion, tissue in...

The dietary iron requirement for normal growth and optimum hematological values and bioavailability was determined for channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus fingerlings using eggwhite based diets supplemented with 0,5,10,20,60, and 180-mg ironkg from iron methionine or 20, 60, and 180-mg ironkg from iron sulfate. The basal diet which contained 9.2-mg ironkg, 34% crude protein and 3.1 kcal of dige...

Ghrelin (GRLN), cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and cholecystokinin (CCK) are neuropeptides involved in the regulation of appetite and feeding in vertebrates. We examined pre- and postprandial changes in the expression of plasma GHRL and mRNAs encoding GRLN, CART, NPY, and CCK in channel catfish. Fish were entrained to eat at 0900 h for 2 weeks. Fish w...

The culture of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is an established industry in many areas of the southern United States. Improvements in feeding regimens would economically benefit producers. The present research was designed to evaluate the effect of feeding time (AM vs. PM), feeding frequency (one vs. two times a day) and intermittent fasting (6 days of feeding, 1 day of fasting) on produ...