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Intestinal microbiota of healthy and unhealthy Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in a recirculating aquaculture system

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Abstract

The present study sampled the intestinal content of healthy and unhealthy Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), the ambient water of unhealthy fish, and the biofilter material in the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) to understand differences in the intestinal microbiota. The V4–V5 regions of the prokaryotic 16S rRNA genes in the samples were analyzed by MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. The fish were adults with no differences in body length or weight. Representative members of the intestinal microbiota were identified. The intestinal microbiota of the healthy fish included Proteobacteria (44.33%), Actinobacteria (17.89%), Bacteroidetes (15.25%), and Firmicutes (9.11%), among which the families Micrococcaceae and Oxalobacteraceae and genera Sphingomonas, Streptomyces, Pedobacter, Janthinobacterium, Burkholderia, and Balneimonas were most abundant. Proteobacteria (70.46%), Bacteroidetes (7.59%), and Firmicutes (7.55%) dominated the microbiota of unhealthy fish, and Chloroflexi (2.71%), and Aliivibrio and Vibrio as well as genera in the family Aeromonadaceae were most strongly represented. Overall, the intestinal hindgut microbiota differed between healthy and unhealthy fish. This study offers a useful tool for monitoring the health status of fish and for screening the utility of probiotics by studying the intestinal microbiota.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Chun Wang  (王纯), Guoxiang Sun  (孙国祥), Xian Li  (李贤) & Ying Liu  (刘鹰)

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chun Wang  (王纯)

  3. College of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, 056038, China

    Shuangshuang Li  (李双双)

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  1. Chun Wang  (王纯)
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  2. Guoxiang Sun  (孙国祥)
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  3. Shuangshuang Li  (李双双)
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  4. Xian Li  (李贤)
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Correspondence to Ying Liu  (刘鹰).

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31472312, 41306152, 31402283), the Qingdao Innovation Talents Program (No. 13-CX-16), the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2014BAD08B09), the Earmarked Fund for Modern Agroindustry Technology Research System (No. CARS-48), and the Project for International S&T Cooperation Program of China (No. 2014DFA31030)

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Wang, C., Sun, G., Li, S. et al. Intestinal microbiota of healthy and unhealthy Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in a recirculating aquaculture system. J. Ocean. Limnol. 36, 414–426 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-017-6203-5

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