Comparison of intestinal microbiota and activities of digestive and immune-related enzymes

Comparison of intestinal microbiota and activities of digestive and immune-related enzymes of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in two habitats

WANG Qi;ZHANG Xiumei;CHEN Muyan;LI Wentao;ZHANG Peidong

【期刊名称】《中国海洋湖沼学报（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2018(036)003

【摘要】Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus stock enhancement by releasing hatchery-produced seeds is a management tool used to recover its population under natural environmental conditions.To assess the suitability of releasing sites,we examined the microbiota of the gut contents of A.japonicus from two populations (one in sandy-muddy seagrass beds and one in rocky intertidal reefs) and the microbiota in their surrounding sediments.The activities of digestive and immune-related enzymes in the A.japonicus were also examined.The results indicated that higher bacterial richness and Shannon diversity index were observed in all the seagrass-bed samples.There were significant differences in intestinal and sediment microorganisms between the two habitats,with a 2.87 times higher abundance of Firmicutes in the seagrass bed sediments than that in the reefs.Meanwhile,Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were significantly higher abundant in the gut content of A.japonicus from seagrass bed than those from the reefs.In addition,the seagrass-bed samples exhibited a relatively higher