Beneficial effects of dietary probiotics mixture on hemato-immunology and cell apoptosis of Labeo rohita fingerlings reared at higher water temperatures

Probiotics play an important role in growth increment, immune enhancement and stress mitigation in fish. Increasing temperature is a major concern in present aquaculture practices as it markedly deteriorates the health condition and reduces the growth in fish. In order to explore the possibilities of using probiotics as a counter measure for temperature associated problems, a 30 days feeding trial was conducted to study the hemato-immunological and apoptosis response of Labeo rohita (8.3±0.4 g) reared at different water temperatures, fed with or without dietary supplementation of a probiotic mixture (PM) consisting of Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus lactis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (1011 cfu kg(-1)). Three hundred and sixty fish were randomly distributed into eight treatment groups in triplicates, namely, T1(28°C+BF(Basal feed)+PM), T2(31°C+BF+PM), T3(34°C+BF+PM), T4(37°C+BF+PM), T5(28°C+BF), T6(31°C+BF), T7(34°C+BF) and T8(37°C+BF). A significant increase (P