Biodiversity of gut microorganisms in aquacultured African catfish

Abstract

The article examines the intestinal microbiome of young and adult catfish Clarias gariepinus raised under aquaculture conditions. Genomic DNA was isolated from the large intestine of fish. The study was conducted using the 16S Metagenomics protocol, and the library pool was sequenced on Illumina MiSeq. The microbiota is characterized by a diverse set of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, the qualitative and quantitative composition of which is strictly individual for each individual. The microbiota of young catfish consisted mainly of opportunistic gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas, as well as gram-negative anaerobic bacteria Cetobacterium somerae. In adult catfish, higher biodiversity and the appearance of opportunistic gram-positive bacteria of the genus Streptococcus in the dominant genera were revealed; the species Propionibacterium acnes was also common. The study results indicate that the diversity of the gut microbiome of the catfish Clarias gariepinus increases over time.