Gut Microbiome as a Potential Biomarker in Fish: Dietary Exposure to Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Metals, Metabolic Functions and Cytokine Expression in Juvenile Lates calcarifer

Abstract

The gut microbiome of fish contains core taxa whose relative abundances are modulated in response to diet, environmental factors, and exposure to toxicogenic chemicals, influencing the health of the host fish. Recent advances in genomics and metabolomics have suggested the potential of microbiome analysis as a biomarker for exposure to toxicogenic compounds. In this 35-day laboratory study, 16S RNA sequencing and multivariate analysis were used to explore changes in the gut microbiome of juvenile Lates calcarifer exposed to dietary sub-lethal doses of three metals: vanadium (20 mg/kg), nickel (480 mg/kg), and iron (470 mg/kg), and to two oils: bunker C heavy fuel oil (HFO) (1% w/w) and Montara, a typical Australian medium crude oil (ACO) (1% w/w). Diversity of the gut microbiome was significantly reduced compared to negative controls in fish exposed to metals, but not petroleum hydrocarbons. The core taxa in the microbiome of negative control fish comprised phyla Proteobacteria (62%), Firmicutes (7%), Planctomycetes (3%), Actinobacteria (2%), Bacteroidetes (1%), and others (25%). Differences in the relative abundances of bacterial phyla of metal-exposed fish were pronounced, with the microbiome of Ni-, V-, and Fe-exposed fish dominated by Proteobacteria (81%), Firmicutes (68%), and Bacteroidetes (48%), respectively. The genus Photobacterium was enriched proportionally to the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in oil-exposed fish. The probiotic lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus was significantly reduced in the microbiota of fish exposed to metals. Transcription of cytokines IL-1, IL-10, and TNF-a was significantly upregulated in fish exposed to metals but unchanged in oil-exposed fish compared to negative controls. However, IL-7 was significantly downregulated in fish exposed to V, Ni, Fe, and HFOs. Fish gut microbiome exhibits distinctive changes in response to specific toxicants and shows potential for use as biomarkers of exposure to V, Ni, Fe, and to PAHs present in crude oil.

Mucus-associated microbiotas among different body sites of wild tuna from the South China Sea

“…Based on our result, the abundant Lactobacillus in the skin could be considered the best biomarker candidate for tuna to monitor the host health status and environmental quality. It has been also proposed as a biomarker for toxicogenic exposure (Spilsbury et al, 2022).…”

Fish waste to sustainable additives: Fish protein hydrolysates alleviate intestinal dysbiosis and muscle atrophy induced by poultry by-product meal in Lates calcarifer juvenile

“…In this study, gut microbial diversity were negatively impacted by the PBM-based diet along with an enrichment of the Photobacterium genus. The prevalence of this genus was recently reported to increase in the gut system of barramundi when exposed to a variety of environmental stresses ( 48 ). In the present study, the observed bacterial dysbiosis in the intestine of barramundi fed PBM protein only was aligned with the results of the negatively altered mucosal barriers and expression of inflammatory cytokines and i-mucin c .…”

The Impact of Tetrodotoxin (TTX) on the Gut Microbiome in Juvenile Tiger Pufferfish, Takifugu rubripes

“…Rubritalea is a marine bacterium found in various environments, such as the Mediterranean sponge Axinella polypoides, juvenile Lates calcarifer, and shrimp infected with White Feces Disease [62, 113,117]. Certain strains of Rubritalea produce carotenoid compounds, resulting in the pink coloration of cell biomass.…”