Effects of weaning American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) with the formula diet on intestinal microbiota and inflammatory cytokines genes expression

Ying Liang; Haizi Liu; Shaowei Zhai; Lixing Huang; Wenshu Huang; Bei Huang; Jisong Xu; Jing Xiong; Bei Wang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16965

Effects of weaning American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) with the formula diet on intestinal microbiota and inflammatory cytokines genes expression

Heliyon. 2023 Jun 2;9(6):e16965. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16965. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Ying Liang^{1

2

3

4}, Haizi Liu^{1

4}, Shaowei Zhai^{1

4}, Lixing Huang¹, Wenshu Huang^{1

4}, Bei Huang^{1

4}, Jisong Xu^{1

4}, Jing Xiong^{1

4}, Bei Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy Culture, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, 524088, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, PR China, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China.
⁴ Engineering Research Center of the Modern Technology for Eel Industry, Ministry of Education, PR China, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, China.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of weaning American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) with the formula diet on intestinal microbiota and the expression of inflammatory cytokines genes. During the feeding trial, the control group (termed IF group) was fed with initial feed for 34 days, and the experimental group (termed FF group) was fed with initial feed for 30 days, and then weaned with the formula diet for 4 days. After feeding trial, intestines were subjected to microbiota analysis using 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing, and expression of three inflammatory cytokines genes in gut were examined by qPCR. The results indicated that the species richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota exhibited significantly higher in FF group than that in IF group (P < 0.05). At the phylum level, the core intestinal microflora was the same for two groups. The most abundant phylum was Firmicutes in IF group, while it was Proteobacteria in FF group. Five genera were significantly higher in the IF group compared with the FF group, and Bacillus was the most major enriched biomarker at genus level. Nine genera were significantly higher in the FF group compared with the IF group, and Acidovorax was the most major enriched biomarker. Weaning from initial feeding diet to formula feeding diet enhanced the expression levels of TNF-α and IL-8, and there was no significant change in IL-1β expression between the two groups. These findings would be very useful to improve the diet formulation for weaning stage of American glass eels.

Keywords: Anguilla rostrata; Gene expression; Glass eel; Intestinal microbiota; Weaning.