Cottonseed Meal Protein Hydrolysate Improves the Growth Performance of Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis) by Promoting the Muscle Growth and Molting Performance

Figure 4

Effects of dietary cottonseed meal protein hydrolysate levels on (a) total molting times and (b) moting ratio (molting ratio (%) = 2 × the number of molting/(final crabs number + initial crabs number) as well as the relative expressions of (c) ecdysteroid receptor (EcR), (d) retinoid X receptor (RXR), (e) molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH), (f) cryptocyanin (Cc), and (g) cuticle protein cbm (CP cbm). The upper and lower limits of the box represent the first and third quartiles, while the horizontal line inside the box represents the second quartile (median). The whiskers represent the maximum and minimum values. For tissue expression, data are referred to the values (relative units (RU)) found in the CPH0 group. Each data represented the mean of four replicates. The boxes assigned with different superscripts are significantly different (). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences () at different week points within each treatment, whereas different capital letters indicate significant differences () among six treatments at each sampling point. ns , , , .

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