Effects of sex on characteristics and expression levels of digestive enzymes in the adult guppy Poecilia reticulata

Zoological Studies

Table 2 Growth parameters, body compositions, and digestive enzyme-specific activities of adult male and female guppies

Parameter	Male	Female	p value
Body weight (g), n = 70	0.35 ± 0.01	0.89 ± 0.02	<0.001^c
Total length (cm), n = 70	3.40 ± 0.02	4.27 ± 0.03	<0.001^c
Condition factor (g/cm³), n = 70	0.89 ± 0.02	1.13 ± 0.01	<0.001^c
Digestive index, n = 70
1. Gastrointestinal weight (g)	0.030 ± 0.01	0.067 ± 0.007	<0.001^c
2. Digestosomatic index (%)	9.02 ± 0.60	8.99 ± 0.65	0.961
Body composition (%), n = 10
1. Moisture	76.82 ± 0.32	75.14 ± 0.19	0.002^c
2. Lipids	2.69 ± 0.09	3.16 ± 0.08	0.002^c
3. Protein	13.76 ± 0.59	11.47 ± 0.54	0.430
4. Ash	3.42 ± 0.08	3.69 ± 0.19	0.195
Digestive enzymes, n = 10
1. Amylase (A)^a
1.1 Acidic amylase (pH 2, 50°C)	16.26 ± 0.58	39.51 ± 1.25	<0.001^c
1.2 Neutral amylase (pH 7, 55°C)	17.40 ± 1.17	36.86 ± 1.33	<0.001^c
1.3 Alkaline amylase (pH 11, 50°C)	16.39 ± 0.74	37.95 ± 0.95	<0.001^c
2. Neutral lipase (pH 7, 35°C)^a	1.04 ± 0.09	0.42 ± 0.02	<0.001^c
3. Total proteases^b
3.1 Acidic protease (pH 2, 55°C)	111.69 ± 7.68	244.07 ± 7.23	<0.001^c
3.2 Alkaline protease (pH 9, 45°C)	74.70 ± 7.11	231.91 ± 18.94	<0.001^c
4. Trypsin (T) (pH 8, 50°C)^a	0.61 ± 0.03	2.06 ± 0.19	<0.001^c
5. Chymotrypsin (C) (pH 9, 50°C)^a	0.20 ± 0.01	0.38 ± 0.01	<0.001^c
6. T/C ratio	3.07 ± 0.05	5.39 ± 0.44	0.006^c
7. A/T ratio	30.29 ± 2.35	22.88 ± 0.26	0.035^c

^aExpressed in units per milligram (U/mg) of protein. ^bExpressed in milliunits per milligram (mU/mg) of protein. ^cDiffered significantly (p < 0.05) between sexes.