Combined effects of dietary fructooligosaccharide andBacillus licheniformison growth performance, body composition, intestinal enzymes activities and gut histology of triangular bream (Megalobrama terminalis)

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and Bacillus licheniformis (B. licheniformis) on growth performance, body composition, intestinal enzymes activities and gut histology of Megalobrama terminalis. Nine experimental diets were formulated to contain three FOS levels (0, 3 and 6 g kg−1) and three B. licheniformis levels (0, 1 and 5 × 107 CFU g−1) following a 3 × 3 factorial design. Accordingly, diets were named as 0/0, 0/3, 0/6, 1/0, 1/3, 1/6, 5/0, 5/3 and 5/6 (B. licheniformis/FOS). At the end of the 8-week feeding trial, weight gain (WG) and specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed 6 g kg−1 FOS were both significantly (P 0.05) was observed in terms of dietary FOS levels. In addition, a significant (P