Evaluation of cottonseed meal derived from genetically modified cotton as feed ingredients for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus

Three laboratory experiments were conducted to assess nutritional quality of cottonseed meals from genetically modified (GM) cotton crops, Roundup Ready((R)) Flex, Bollgard((R)) x Roundup Ready, Bollgard II (R) x Roundup Ready, and Bollgard II x Roundup Ready Flex for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus using Good Laboratory Practices. Growth, feed efficiency, survival, and fillet composition of catfish fed diets containing 20% cottonseed meal from these cotton products were compared with that of catfish fed diets containing cottonseed meals from the near-isogenic, non-GM control and non-GM commercial varieties. Juvenile catfish (mean weights of 4.1, 5.0, and 0.6 g per fish for Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively) were stocked in each of 80-L aquaria and fed experimental diets for 8 weeks. Although there were slight variations in proximate composition, amino acids, and gossypol concentrations, the GM cottonseed meals were not significantly different from the conventional control and the reference cottonseed meals. Weight gain, feed conversion, survival, and fillet composition of catfish fed GM cottonseed meals appeared similar to that of either the control or the commercial cottonseed meals. Results from the present study demonstrate that these GM cottonseed meals are nutritionally equivalent to conventional non-GM cotton varieties when fed to catfish at 20% of the diet.