Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the structural changes in the microbiota of Penaeus monodon during its ontogenetic development and evaluate functional shifts in metabolic pathways. To address these questions, shrimp were maintained under isolated conditions to avoid cross-contamination with other environmental bacteria and reared in twelve 50 L plastic tanks connected to a recirculation system. The replicates of pooled intestine specimens from 15 shrimp were analyzed at postlarvae, juvenile, and adult phases for nucleic acid extraction. We tested the V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene from the postlarvae, juvenile, and adult stages. Resulting amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were used to evaluate both structural and functional shifts during tiger shrimp development. Although the richness and diversity of microbiota were only slightly affected, the phylum Proteobacteria (genus Vibrio) was significantly predominant in the earliest stages of life, while Actinobacteria (genus Actinotalea) significantly increased in adult shrimp. Moreover, functional predictions by PICRUSt suggested that microbiota is primarily involved in metabolic activities during each developmental stage. Overall, these results suggest that each ontogenetic stage may provide specific conditions for the proliferation of certain bacterial taxa. Nerveless, alternative microbiota maintains similar ecological activities; thus, we posit that “stage-specific” changes in microbiota may be regulated to guarantee pivotal host functions.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call