J Environ Manage 2025 Feb 08;376:124487. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124487.

The diversity, composition, network characteristics and community assembly of intestinal microbiome in sea cucumber reflect the differences in habitats and aquaculture practices.

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The possible differentiation of microbiomes in various habitats and aquaculture practices has rarely been studied until now. Here, the microbiomes of five different culture systems for sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus were compared, including outdoor pond, indoor workshop, net cage, suspension cage, marine ranching. Samples of intestinal contents from sea cucumber, surrounding water and sediment were collected from these culture systems. Significant differentiations in microbial diversity, composition, function were found in various culture systems. Microbial source-tracking analysis indicated that intestinal microbiomes of sea cucumber were more similar to sediment than to surrounding water. Totally, 23 shared core operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in intestinal microbiome of sea cucumber in these systems, belong to following orders: Rhodobacterales (15), Rhizobiales (3), Flavobacteriales (2), Verrucomicrobiales (1), Campylobacterales (1), unclassified (1). Meanwhile, unique core OTUs in various systems tended to aggregate toward oligotrophic, potentially beneficial, or pathogenic bacteria. Microbial network characteristics in marine ranching and suspension cage systems were consistent with those in high-stress habitats, exhibiting lower diversity, complexity, modularity, dominated by positive interactions. Conversely, opposite trends were observed in indoor workshop, outdoor pond, net cage systems. Strong diffusion limitations on intestinal microbial community of sea cucumber, particularly in marine ranching system, were elucidated. Distinct characteristics of microbiome in various culture systems reflected differences in habitats and aquaculture practices. These findings provide new insights into impact of aquaculture systems on microbial community in aquatic animals, could contribute to healthy aquaculture practices for sea cucumber industry.

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