The ontogeny of acidic digestive tract in larval turbot Scophthalmus maximus based on H+/K+-ATPase and pepsinogen

Acidic digestion is an important digestive process of marine fish.In fish stomach,two enzymes are involved in the secretion of hydrochloric acid(HCl)and proteomic digestion:H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase and pepsinogen.However,the starting of digestive function in fish is still unclear.To reveal the details of acidic digestion of turbot Scophthalmus maximus in early development,a 40 day of turbot larvae culture was conducted.The H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase gene from the turbot S.maximus(smH^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase)was identified and characterized.Based on our previous discription on pepsinogen of turbot S.maximus,we combined pepsinogen and H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase and analyzed the mechanism of acidic digestion in turbot.Results show that the spatial and temporal expression profiles of H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase agreed with pepsinogen A and C in turbot,indicating a synergetic action between H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase and pepsinogen during the acidic digestion process.In addition,the turbot juveniles showed a faster growth after the expressions of H^(+)/K^(+)-ATPase gene and pepsinogen gene,demonstrating that pepsin had a higher digestive efficiency,for which a compound diet should be provided to the fish from Day 22 onward.This study provided a reference for biology research and aquaculture of turbot and other marine fishes.