Proportions of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, gut microbiota from ambient microbiota increased with aquaculture process

To analyze the effects of ambient microbiota on the gut microbiota of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, at different aquaculture stages, shrimp gut and ambient water and sediment microbiota at different aquaculture stages were collected and analyzed through high-throughput sequencing of 16S rDNA. Our results showed that various gut microbiota alpha-diversity indices at the late aquaculture stage (LAS) were significantly higher than those at the early aquaculture stage (EAS). The average degree of the co-occurrence network constructed based on the samples at the EAS was significantly higher than that at the middle aquaculture stage (MAS), and they were both significantly higher than those at the LAS. The proportions of gut microbiota from the water microbiota in the MAS and LAS were significantly higher than those at the EAS, and the proportion of gut microbiota from the sediment microbiota at the LAS was significantly higher than that at the EAS. These results imply that the gut microbiota of shrimp seedlings obtained a small amount of microorganisms from the ambient microbiota and gradually formed new gut microbiota with the inherent microbiota. These results provide support for the subsequent development of aquaculture technology to prevent bacterial diseases in Pacific white shrimp.