The Underlying Ecological Processes of Gut Microbiota Among Cohabitating Retarded, Overgrown and Normal Shrimp

• Published in: Microbial ecology Vol. 73; no. 4; pp. 988 - 999
• Main Authors: Xiong, Jinbo, Dai, Wenfang, Zhu, Jinyong, Liu, Keshao, Dong, Chunming, Qiu, Qiongfen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01.05.2017; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; Animals; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - enzymology; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; bacterial communities; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; China; Cluster Analysis; Clustering; community structure; Crustacea - enzymology; Crustacea - growth & development; Crustacea - microbiology; Decapoda; Digestion; Digestive system; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Ecology; environmental factors; Enzyme Assays; Food intake; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology; Gastrointestinal tract; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Growth rate; HOST MICROBE INTERACTIONS; interspecific competition; Intestinal microflora; intestinal microorganisms; Larva - microbiology; larvae; Life Sciences; Microbial Consortia - genetics; Microbial Ecology; Microbial flora; Microbiology; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Molecular Sequence Data; Nature Conservation; niches; nutrient intake; obesity; Obesity - microbiology; pathogens; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; ponds; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; shrimp; Shrimps; structural equation modeling; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Functional pathways; Interspecies interaction; Structural equation modeling; Shrimp gut microbiota; Phylogenetic clustering
• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-016-0910-x
• ISSN: 0095-3628

Increasing evidence of tight links among the gut microbiota, obesity, and host health has emerged, but knowledge of the ecological processes that shape the variation in microbial assemblages across growth rates remains elusive. Moreover, inadequately control for differences in factors that profoundly affect the gut microbial community, hampers evaluation of the gut microbiota roles in regulating growth rates. To address this gap, we evaluated the composition and ecological processes of the gut bacterial community in cohabitating retarded, overgrown, and normal shrimps from identically managed ponds. Gut bacterial community structures were distinct (P = 0.0006) among the shrimp categories. Using a structural equation modeling (SEM), we found that changes in the gut bacterial community were positively related to digestive activities, which subsequently affected shrimp growth rate. This association was further supported by intensified interspecies interaction and enriched lineages with high nutrient intake efficiencies in overgrown shrimps. However, the less phylogenetic clustering of gut microbiota in overgrown and retarded subjects may offer empty niches for pathogens invasion, as evidenced by higher abundances of predicted functional pathways involved in disease infection. Given no differences in biotic and abiotic factors among the cohabitating shrimps, we speculated that the distinct gut community assembly could be attributed to random colonization in larval shrimp (e.g., priority effects) and that an altered microbiota could be a causative factor in overgrowth or retardation in shrimp. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an integrated overview of the direct roles of gut microbiota in shaping shrimp growth rate and the underlying ecological mechanisms.