Antagonistic activity of two potential probiotic bacteria from fish intestines and investigation of their effects on growth performance and immune response in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The probiotic activity of two bacterial strains, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, isolated from common carp intestines was studied using antagonistic tests in vitro against Yersinia ruckeri. Randomly assigned to triplicate groups were 450 rainbow trout (mean weight, 20 +/- 3 g) fed three different diets: a commercial feed, or the same feed incorporated into either 5 x 107 CFU g-1 of L.similar to casei or L.similar to plantarum. After a 30-day feeding trial, 30 fish in each group were challenged with Yersinia ruckeri by intraperitoneal injection. Growth parameters were significantly increased in both treatment groups. Immune parameters such as lysozyme activity, alternative complement activity and total immunoglobulin level were significantly higher in the L.similar to casei group than in fish fed the control diet, while no significant differences were revealed between the L.similar to plantarum and control groups. Mortality rates of fish fed L.similar to casei and L.similar to plantarum were lower than in fish fed the control diet after challenging with Y.similar to ruckeri.