Microorganisms (Aug 2021)

Connection between the Gut Microbiota of Largemouth Bass (<i>Micropterus salmoides</i>) and Microbiota of the Pond Culture Environment

  • Qianfu Liu,
  • Zini Lai,
  • Yuan Gao,
  • Chao Wang,
  • Yanyi Zeng,
  • Erchun Liu,
  • Yongzhan Mai,
  • Wanling Yang,
  • Haiyan Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9081770
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 8
p. 1770

Abstract

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The vital role of the gut microbiota in fish growth, development, immunity, and health has been largely confirmed. However, the interaction between environmental microbiota and the gut microbiota of aquaculture species remains unclear. Therefore, we analyzed the gut microbiota of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) collected from subtropical ponds in southern China, as well as the pond water and aquatic sediment microbiota, using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Our results demonstrated significant differences in the compositions of pond water, sediment, and the gut microbiota of largemouth bass. Moreover, these compositions changed throughout the culture period. Only approximately 1% of the bacterial species in the pond sediment and gut microbiota were exchanged. However, the bacterial proportion of the gut microbiota from pond water microbiota was approximately 7% in samples collected in June and August, which increased markedly to 73% in October. Similarly, the proportion of bacteria in the pond water microbiota from the gut microbiota was approximately 12% in June and August, which increased to 45% in October. The study findings provide basic information for understanding the interactions between environmental microbiota and the gut microbiota of cultured fish, which may contribute to improved pond culture practices for largemouth bass.

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