Immunosuppression-induced alterations in fish gut microbiota may increase the susceptibility to pathogens.

Intestinal bacteria play an important role in the health and provide a variety of beneficial effects to host. Immunosuppressant can reduce the immunity of host and increase the susceptibility to pathogens. But it is not clear whether the increased susceptibility caused by immunosuppressant is related to changes of gut microbiota. In this study, we used crucian carp administrated with dexamethasone to explore the effects of immunosuppressants on gut microbial communities and further evaluate the potential association between changes in gut microbiota and susceptibility to pathogens. The results of MANOVA based on the top 10 PCoA axis scores from unweighed/weighted UniFrac distances showed that administration of dexamethasone (P = 0.021) and the administration time (P = 0.027) had a significant impact on the gut microbial composition, regardless of pathogens infection status (P = 0.35). After administration with dexamethasone, the fish had higher abundance of Cetobacterium and lower abundance of Bacillus and Lactococcus, and the abundance of genus Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Lactococcus decreased along with prolong administration time of dexamethasone. The results may help us understand the correlation between the host susceptibility to pathogenic bacteria and gut microbial community shift, and extend our knowledge regarding the role of gut microbiota in keeping the balance between pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria.

Effects of potential probiotic Bacillus velezensis K2 on growth, immunity and resistance to Vibrio harveyi infection of hybrid grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus♂ × E. fuscoguttatus♀).

Nowadays, there is no suitable treatment for vibriosis in groupers. So an eco-efficient and environmentally friendly treatment is necessary for the grouper industry. Probiotic-feeding has been a promising strategy to control the bacterial pathogens in aquaculture. A new Bacillus velezensis strain named K2 was isolated from the intestinal tract of healthy grouper, and exhibited wide antimicrobial spectrum of against fish pathogens, including Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio alginolyticus, Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas veronii, Aeromonas caviae, Enterococcus casseliflavus and Lactococcus garvieae. Moreover, results of the safety of B. velezensis K2 showed that intraperitoneal injection of K2 in healthy grouper did not cause any pathological abnormality or death, indicating this bacteria could be considered as a candidate probiotic in aquaculture. Groupers were fed with the diets containing 1 × 107 cfu/g of B. velezensis K2 for 4 weeks. Various immune parameters were examined at 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks of post-feeding. Results showed that diets supplemented with K2 significantly increased serum acid phosphatase (ACP) activity (P < 0.05). Results of the mRNA expression of immune-related genes in the head kidney of hybrid grouper showed that the expression of lysozyme gene was significantly upregulated after 1 and 2 weeks of feeding (P < 0.05). A significant up-regulation of the expression of piscidin, IgM and MyD88 were detected at day 21, whereas the TLR3 and TLR5 showed lower expression compared to the controls during 21 days, and a significant decrease of TLR3 gene was found at day 28 (P < 0.05). After challenge with V. harveyi, the survival rate of fish administrated with the strain K2 for 28 days was signifiacantly higher than the controls without this strain (P < 0.05). These results collectively suggest that B. velezensis K2 is a potential probiotic species to improve health status and disease resistance and can be developed as a probiotic agent in grouper industry.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes as delivery vehicles enhance the immunoprotective effect of a DNA vaccine against spring viremia of carp virus in common carp.

Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) is highly contagious and pathogenic to cyprinid fish, causing enormous economic losses in aquaculture. Efficient and economic prophylactic measure against is the most pressing desired for the common carp farming industry. In this research, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as a candidate DNA vaccine carrier was administrated via bath (1, 5, 10, 20, 40 mg L-1) or injection (1, 4, 8, 12, 20 µg) in common carp juvenile, and the different immune treatments to induce immunoprotective effect was analyzed. The results showed that higher levels of transcription and expression of G gene could be detected in muscle, spleen and kidney tissues via bath administration or intramuscular injection in SWCNTs-pEGFP-G treatment groups compared with naked pEGFP-G treatment groups. Meanwhile, complement activity, superoxide dismutase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity, immune-related genes (especially the TNF-α) and antibody levels were significantly enhanced in fish immunized with DNA vaccine combined with SWCNTs. The relative percentage survival were significantly enhanced in fish bathed with SWCNTs-pEGFP-G vaccine and the relative percentage survival reached to 57.5% in SWCNTs-pEGFP-G group than that of naked pEGFP-G (40.0%) at the highest vaccine dose (40 mg L-1) after 22 days of post infection, and fish in bath immunization group at a concentration of 40 mg L-1 could reach the similar relative percentage survival in injection group at a dose of 12 µg. This study suggest that ammonium-functionalized SWCNTs is the promising carrier for DNA vaccine and might be used to vaccinate large-scale juvenile fish by bath administration approach in aquaculture.

Ammonia exposure alters the expression of immune-related and antioxidant enzymes-related genes and the gut microbial community of crucian carp (Carassius auratus).

Chronic exposure of ammonia in fish can affect the activities of antioxidant enzymes but few studies investigate the influence of ammonia exposure on the expression of immune-related and antioxidant enzymes-related genes. Also, there is no study demonstrates the effect of ammonia exposure on gut microbial community of fish. In this study, crucian carp (Carassius auratus) were exposed to the ammonia concentrations, 0 (control), 10 mg L-1 (low) or 50 mg L-1 (high) for consecutive 30 days at 25 ± 1 °C temperature, respectively, and after that, the fish from all exposure groups were maintained in control conditions for another 15 days. The results showed that low concentration ammonia increased the expression of immune-related genes and antioxidant enzymes-related genes, but high concentration ammonia inhibited the expression of immune-related genes and antioxidant enzymes-related genes. After a 15-day treatment without ammonia, the expression of antioxidant enzymes-related genes and immune-related genes showed no significant changes compared with control. The results of high-throughput sequencing showed that gut microbial communities were significantly differentiated following ammonia exposure. The abundance of Bacteroides and Cetobacterium (two kinds of potential probiotics) increased while fish exposed to 10 mg L-1 ammonia. The Flavobacterium (a potential fish pathogen) showed increasing trends when the exposure dose reached 50 mg L-1, while the Bacteroides and Cetobacterium showed almost no abundance. The results also revealed that ammonia exposure concentration or time can alter the intestinal microbial community. In conclusion, ammonia exposure could induce the immune response in crucian carp, and alter the gut microbial community. The results may help us understand the correlations of gut microbial community shift and ammonia exposure and extend our knowledge to comprehend the effects of environmental factors on intestinal microbial community.