Francesco Lombardo
	
					    												
Italy						                            
                            
						
 Research Article
												Effects of Probiotics on Zebrafish Reproduction 						
Author(s): Giorgia Gioacchini, Francesco Lombardo, Daniel L. Merrifield, Stefania Silvi, Alberto Cresci, Matteo Alessandro Avella and Oliana CarnevaliGiorgia Gioacchini, Francesco Lombardo, Daniel L. Merrifield, Stefania Silvi, Alberto Cresci, Matteo Alessandro Avella and Oliana Carnevali             
						
												
				 Recent  studies  have  demonstrated  that  probiotics  can  influence  reproductive  performance,  however,  the  mechanisms influencing oogenesis remain poorly explored. In this study, the effects of dietary probiotic  Lactobacillus  rhamnosus  IMC 501 ®  administration  was investigated on female zebrafish ( D. rerio ) reproductive performance and  ovarian development (both growth and maturation phases). After feeding the zebrafish experimental diets for 10  days, real-time PCR and culture based methods revealed alterations on gut microbiota, characterised by high levels  of  L. rhamnosus  IMC 501 ®  in  the gut of probiotic treated zebrafish, which were absent in the control. The microbial  modulation in the gut was related with a significant increase of the gonadosomatic-index (GSI) associated, at the  molecular level, to a significant increase of ovarian expression of cyt.. View More»
				  
												DOI:
												 10.4172/2155-9546.S1-002