The aquaculture industry has rapidly increased in response to the increasing world population, with the appreciation that aquaculture products are beneficial for human health and nutrition. Globally, aquaculture organisms are mainly divided into two divisions, aquatic animals (finfish, crustaceans, and molluscs) and aquatic plants (microalgae and seaweed). Worldwide aquaculture production has reached more than 82 million tonnes (MTs) in 2018 with more than 450 cultured species. The development of economical, environmentally friendly, and large-scale feasible technologies to produce aquaculture organisms (even aquatic animals and/or aquatic plants) is an essential need of the world. Some aquaculture technologies are related to aquatic animals or aquatic plants, as well as some technologies have an integrated system. This integration between aquatic plants and aquatic animals could be performed during early larvae rearing, on-growing and/or mass production. In the context of the blue revolution, the current review focuses on the generations of integration between aquatic plants and aquatic animals, such as live feeds, biomass concentrates, water conditioners “green water technique”, aqua-feed additives, co-culturing technologies, and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA). This review could shed light on the benefit of aquatic animals and plant integration, which could lead future low-cost, highly efficient, and sustainable aquaculture industry projects.

A biofloc technology-based 75-day indoor growth trial in an 80 L glass aquaria was conducted to evaluate the effects of two different carbon sources (sugarcane bagasse, SB, and wheat flour, WF) on the biofloc composition, bacterial abundance, and growth of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) juveniles (0.23 ± 0.04 g). Three different levels of dietary protein content (250, 300, and 350 g protein kg⁻¹ diet) and two carbon sources (SB and WF) were applied (SB₂₅₀, WF₂₅₀, SB₃₀₀, WF₃₀₀, SB₃₅₀, and WF₃₅₀, respectively), comparing to a controlled diet without biofloc and fed on a 450 g protein kg⁻¹ diet (C₄₅₀). With the addition of SB and WF, water quality was in the ideal recommended ranges for L. vannamei culture. At the end of the experiment, the biofloc volume increased with increasing dietary protein levels. The nutritional value of biofloc in different treatments was influenced by dietary protein and added SB and WF. Increasing dietary protein significantly increased the protein and lipid contents of the produced biofloc. The use of WF as a carbon source significantly increased lipids and nitrogen-free extract in the biofloc. The total heterotrophic bacterial (THB) count was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in WF₃₀₀ and WF₃₅₀ than in the other treatments. The mean effect of the protein levels and carbon source was significantly reported, whereas the highest significant THB count was recorded with 300 dietary protein and using WF as a carbon source. The growth performances of L. vannamei fed with biofloc treatments were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the C₄₅₀ group. The highest final weight and weight gain were recorded in SB₃₅₀ treatment. The feed conversion ratio was not affected by reducing dietary protein levels; meanwhile, the protein efficiency ratio increased significantly in biofloc treatments than in the control. Overall, the results demonstrate that, compared to the control treatment of 450 dietary protein, the biofloc treatments using WF as a carbon source could compensate for the reduction in the dietary protein levels in the diet of L. vannamei and maintain higher zootechnical performance.

The present study evaluated the influence of different commercial agricultural by-products as a carbon source in a bifloc-based (BFT) culture system on growth performance, whole-body proximate composition, digestive enzyme activities, gut microbial abundance, and hepatopancreas histology of Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei post larvae (Pls). Three groups were designed, the first group was the control group, where the shrimp was reared in clear water (without carbon source addition and water exchange rate of 100% two times a week) and fed with a commercial diet, in the second and third groups shrimp were reared in BFT systems using two different carbon sources, sugarcane bagasse (SB) and rice bran (RB) without additional feeding or water exchange. The initial stocking density was 16 Pls/liter with an average individual shrimp weight of 0.01 ± 0.002 g and age (PL20). The experiment lasted 90 days. The water quality parameters were maintained at optimum levels during the experiment. The final body weight and specific growth rate of shrimp were significantly (p ≤ 0.01) higher in the control group than those reared in both SB and RB-based BFT. Meanwhile, the survival rate was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in BFT groups than in the control. The protease activity in shrimp stomach did not differ significantly. Meanwhile, protease, lipase, and amylase in the intestine showed a significant increase (p < 0.01) in BFT groups than those obtained in the control group. The total heterotrophic bacteria were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in BFT groups. Furthermore, the hepatopancreas histological status of shrimp reared in the SB-based BFT group showed an increase in the hepatopancreas tubules in the distal and B-cell zones (blister-like cells) by 16.83 and 34.89%, respectively, compared to the control. This study revealed that BFT could be used as a natural feed without artificial diets, which influenced the gut microbiota of shrimp, increased digestive enzyme activities, as well as improved the histological structure of the hepatopancreas of shrimp. However, the success of this conditions under high stocking density still needs more investigation.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of three natural antioxidants on sex hormone levels, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems, and histological changes in the testes of male Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. A total of 210 male Nile tilapia were distributed into seven treatments (three replicates for each) with an initial weight of 3.67 g fish⁻¹. The fish were fed experimental diets (32% crude protein) without supplementation as control or supplemented with ginseng extract (GE; 0.2 and 0.4 g GE kg⁻¹ diet), Tribulus terrestris extract (TT; 0.6 and 1.2 g TT kg⁻¹ diet), and date palm pollen grains (DPPG; 3 and 6 g DPPG kg⁻¹ diet) for 84 days. The results revealed a significant increase in the luteinizing hormone level with TT, DPPG, and GE supplementation increased the levels by 22.9%, 18.5%, and 17.6%, respectively. The testosterone level also increased significantly with TT_1.2, GE_0.4, TT_0.6, and DPPG₆ by 86.23%, 64.49%, 57.40%, and 24.62%, respectively. The antioxidant status in the testis homogenate showed a significant decrease in the level of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances when using different dietary substances. In addition, glutathione reduced contents, glutathione S-transferases, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities significantly increased with different dietary supplementation in a dose-dependent manner. The histological evaluation revealed normal histological features of the testes in all treatments with increasing active seminiferous tubules (%) in GE, TT, and DPPG supplemented groups, especially with the highest levels. In conclusion, the dietary supplementation of GE, TT, and DPPG enhanced sex hormones level, redox status, and testis structure and could improve the male reproductive performance of Nile tilapia.

Plant response to salt stress and the mechanism of salt tolerance have received major focus by plant biology researchers. Biotic stresses cause extensive losses in agricultural production globally, but abiotic stress causes significant increase in the methylglyoxal (MG) level of GlyoxalaseI (Gly I). Identification of salt-tolerant genes when characterizing their phenotypes will help to identify novel genes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the DNA coding region for glyoxalase I. This method is specific, requiring only genomic DNA and two pairs of PCR primers, and involving two successive PCR reactions. This method was used rapidly and easily identified glyoxalase I sequences as salt-tolerant genes from Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider). In the present study, the glyoxalase I gene was isolated, amplified by PCR using gene-specific primers and sequenced from the jojoba plant, then compared with other glyoxalase I sequences in other plants and glyoxalase I genes like in Brassica napus, ID: KT720495.1; Brassica juncea ID: Y13239.1, Arachis hypogaea; ID: DQ989209.2; and Arabidopsis thaliana L, ID: AAL84986. The structural gene of glyoxalase I, when sequenced and analyzed, revealed that the uninterrupted open reading frame (ORF) of jojoba Gly I (Jojo-Gly I) spans 775 bp, corresponding to 185 amino acid residues, and shares 45.2% amino acid sequence identity to jojoba (Jojo-Gly I). The cloned ORF, in a multicopy constitutive expression plasmid, complemented the Jojo-Gly I, confirming that the encoded Jojo-Gly I in jojoba showed some homology with other known glyoxalase I sequences of plants.

The confinement of transgenic fish is essential to prevent their escape and reproduction in natural ecosystems. Reversible transgenic sterilization is a promising approach to control the reproduction of transgenic fish. Therefore, the present study was conducted to develop a reversibly sterile channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) via the transgenic overexpression of the goldfish (Carassius auratus) glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) gene driven by the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) β-actin promoter to disrupt normal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) regulation. Three generations of GAD-transgenic fish were produced. All studied generations showed repressed reproductive performance; however, this was not always statistically significant. In F₁, 5.4% of the transgenic fish showed a sexual maturity score ≥ 4 (maximum = 5) at five years of age, which was lower (p = 0.07) than that of the control group (16.8%). In the spawning experiments conducted on F₁ transgenic fish at six and nine years of age, 45.5% and 20.0% of fish spawned naturally, representing lower values (p = 0.09 and 0.12, respectively) than the percentages in the sibling control fish of the same age (83.3% and 66.7%, respectively). Four of six pairs of the putative infertile six-year-old fish spawned successfully after luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analog (LHRHa) therapy. Similar outcomes were noted in the three-year-old F₂ fish, with a lower spawning percentage in transgenic fish (20.0%) than in the control (66.7%). In one-year-old F₂-generation transgenic fish, the observed mean serum gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) levels were 9.23 ± 2.49 and 8.14 ± 2.21 ng/mL for the females and males, respectively. In the control fish, the mean levels of GnRH were 11.04 ± 4.06 and 9.03 ± 2.36 ng/mL for the females and males, respectively, which did not differ significantly from the control (p = 0.15 and 0.27 for females and males, respectively). There was no significant difference in the estradiol levels of the female transgenic and non-transgenic fish in the one- and four-year-old F₂-generation fish. The four-year-old F₂-generation male transgenic fish exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) lower levels of GnRH and testosterone than the control fish. In conclusion, while overexpressing GAD repressed the reproductive abilities of channel catfish, it did not completely sterilize transgenic fish. The sterilization rate might be improved through selection in future generations.