Abstract
BackgroundSiberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt) and Beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) are two important commercial fish in China, and the feeding habits of them are very different. Diets and feeding habits are two significant factors to affect the gastrointestinal microbiota in fish. The intestinal microbiota has been reported to play a key role in nutrition and immunity. However, it is rarely reported about the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and feeding habits/diets on different Acipenseridae fish. This study is to comparative analysis of gut microbial community in Siberian sturgeon and Beluga sturgeon fed with the same diet/Beluga sturgeon fed with different diets in order to determine the effects of different feeding habits/diets on the fish intestinal microbiota.ResultsAccording to the experimental objectives, BL and BH groups were Beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) fed with low fishmeal diet and high fishmeal diet, respectively. SH group represented Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt) fed with the same diet as BH group. After 16 weeks feeding trial, the intestinal microbiota was examined by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology. On the phylum level, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were significantly higher in BL group than BH group, and Cyanobacteria showed the opposite trend. Compared with BH group, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were significantly increased in SH group, whereas Cyanobacteria were clearly decreased. At the genus level, Pseudomonas and Citrobacter in BL group were significantly higher comparing with BH group, while Bacillus, Luteibacter, Staphylococcus and Oceanobacillus was lower in BH group than SH group.ConclusionsAlpha and beta diversities indicated that the intestinal microflora were significant difference between Siberian sturgeon and Beluga sturgeon when they fed with the same diet. Meanwhile, Beluga sturgeon fed with low fishmeal diet can increase the species diversity of intestinal microbiota than it fed high fishmeal diet. Therefore, feeding habits clearly affected the gastrointestinal microbiota of sturgeons. Moreover, the impact of changes in food on the gut microbiota of sturgeons should be taken into consideration during the process of sturgeon aquaculture.
Highlights
Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt) and Beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) are two important commercial fish in China, and the feeding habits of them are very different
Analysis of 16S rRNA sequencing results Six samples were taken from each group, but only 5, 5 and 3 samples from BL, BH and SH groups respectively accorded with the requirements of library construction, because the rest samples of The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products were no purpose bands or low concentrations
The alpha and beta diversity indices of the intestinal microbiota between BH and SH groups were significantly different, which confirmed the above point of view that the richness and diversity of the intestinal microorganisms are dissimilar in the different species of sturgeons they fed with the same diet
Summary
Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baeri Brandt) and Beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) are two important commercial fish in China, and the feeding habits of them are very different. Diets and feeding habits are two significant factors to affect the gastrointestinal microbiota in fish. The intestinal microbiota has been reported to play a key role in nutrition and immunity. It is rarely reported about the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and feeding habits/diets on different Acipenseridae fish. The intestinal microbiota of vertebrates has been reported to play a key role in nutrition and immunity, such as stimulating the growth and development of the intestinal epithelium, preventing it from pathogen invasion, contributing to the digestion of complex nutrients, and synthesizing beneficial secondary metabolites [2, 3]. It is crucial to understand how such factors may influence the gut microbiota, with a view to regulate and control the bacterial community
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