Metagenomic analysis of intestinal microbial function and key genes responsive to acute high-salinity stress in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Gene. 2024 Mar 12:148371. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148371. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe intestinal microbiota is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in aquatic animals. To investigate the functional roles and mechanisms of the intestinal microbial genes/enzymes responding to salinity stress or osmotic pressure in fish, metagenomic analysis was carried out to evaluate the response of intestinal microbiota and especially their functional genes/enzymes from freshwater (the control group) to acute high salinity stress (the treatment group) in Nile tilapia. Our results showed that at the microbial community level, the intestinal microbiota in Nile tilapia generally underwent significant changes in diversity after acute high salinity stress. Among them, the shift in the bacterial community (mainly from Actinobacteria to Proteobacteria) dominated and had a large impact, the fungal community showed a very limited response, and other microbiota, such as phages, likely had a negligible response. At the functional level, the intestinal bacteriadecreased the normal physiological demand and processes, such as those of the digestive system and nervous system, but enhanced energy metabolism. Furthermore, at the gene level, some gene biomarkers, such as glutathione S-transferase, myo-inositol-1(or 4)-monophosphatase, glycine betaine/proline transport system permease protein, and some families of carbohydrate-active enzymes (GT4, GT2), were significantly enriched. Howeve...

Source: Gene - March 14, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Jiayi Gong Fengmeng Xu Yao Li Yiyong He Zhizheng Liang Xiao Chen Xiaoyong Zhang Li Liu Lei Zhou Xiande Huang Source Type: research