Ebrahim H. Najdegerami,
Volume 1, Issue 2 (12-2014)
Recently, concern over environmental and health effects of massive use of antibiotics has led to the growth of bio-control agent application. Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a natural polymer that can be depolymerized into water-soluble short-chain fatty acid monomers and acts as a microbial control agent. In this study, the effects of the addition of PHB to the diet of Siberian sturgeon fingerlings by 2% and 5% were investigated. Community Level Physiological Profile (CLPP) was used to analyze anaerobic bacterial metabolic diversity in Siberian sturgeon fingerlings hindgut by using Biolog™ Ecoplate microplates. The results indicated that PHB increased metabolic activity in anaerobic bacteria in sturgeon hindgut. Also Lorenz curve and the Shannon index of Biolog™ Ecoplate data revealed that anaerobic metabolic potential of the bacterial community was different in the PHB-treated fishes compared with the control situation.