Early-Life Fecal Transplantation from High Muscle Yield Rainbow Trout to Low Muscle Yield Recipients Accelerates Somatic Growth through Respiratory and Mitochondrial Efficiency Modulation

Previous studies conducted in our lab revealed microbial assemblages to vary significantly between high (ARS-FY-H) and low fillet yield (ARS-FY-L) genetic lines in adult rainbow trout. We hypothesized that a high ARS-FY-H donor microbiome can accelerate somatic growth in microbiome-depleted rainbow trout larvae of the ARS-FY-L line. Germ-depleted larvae of low ARS-FY-L line trout reared in sterile environments were exposed to high- or low-fillet yield-derived microbiomes starting at first feeding for 27 weeks. Despite weight-normalized diets, somatic mass was significantly increased in larvae receiving high fillet yield microbiome cocktails at 27 weeks post-hatch. RNA-seq from fish tails reveals enrichment in NADH dehydrogenase activity, oxygen carrier, hemoglobin complex, gas transport, and respiratory pathways in high fillet yield recolonized larvae. Transcriptome interrogation suggests a relationship between electron transport chain inputs and body weight assimilation, mediated by the gut microbiome. These findings suggest that microbiome payload originating from high fillet yield adult donors primarily accelerates juvenile somatic mass assimilation through respiratory and mitochondrial input modulation. Further microbiome studies are warranted to assess how increasing beneficial microbial taxa could be a basis for formulating appropriate pre-, pro-, or post-biotics in the form of feed additives and lead to fecal transplantation protocols for accelerated feed conversion and fillet yield in aquaculture.