Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics Utilization in Crayfish Aquaculture and Factors Affecting Gut Microbiota

Maria V Alvanou; Konstantinos Feidantsis; Alexandra Staikou; Apostolos P Apostolidis; Basile Michaelidis; Ioannis A Giantsis

doi:10.3390/microorganisms11051232

Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics Utilization in Crayfish Aquaculture and Factors Affecting Gut Microbiota

Microorganisms. 2023 May 7;11(5):1232. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11051232.

Authors

Maria V Alvanou¹, Konstantinos Feidantsis², Alexandra Staikou³, Apostolos P Apostolidis⁴, Basile Michaelidis², Ioannis A Giantsis^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Macedonia, 53100 Florina, Greece.
² Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
³ Laboratory of Marine and Terrestrial Animal Diversity, Department of Zoology, Facultyof Science, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki,Greece.
⁴ Laboratory of Ichthyology & Fisheries, Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Abstract

Aquaculture is affected by numerous factors that may cause various health threats that have to be controlled by the most environmentally friendly approaches. In this context, prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics are frequently incorporated into organisms' feeding rations to ameliorate the health status of the host's intestine, enhancing its functionality and physiological performance, and to confront increasing antimicrobial resistance. The first step in this direction is the understanding of the complex microbiome system of the organism in order to administer the optimal supplement, in the best concentration, and in the correct way. In the present review, pre-, pro-, and synbiotics as aquaculture additives, together with the factors affecting gut microbiome in crayfish, are discussed, combined with their future prospective outcomes. Probiotics constitute non-pathogenic bacteria, mainly focused on organisms' energy production and efficient immune response; prebiotics constitute fiber indigestible by the host organism, which promote the preferred gastrointestinal tract microorganisms' growth and activity towards the optimum balance between the gastrointestinal and immune system's microbiota; whereas synbiotics constitute their combination as a blend. Among pro-, pre-, and synbiotics' multiple benefits are boosted immunity, increased resistance towards pathogens, and overall welfare promotion. Furthermore, we reviewed the intestinal microbiota abundance and composition, which are found to be influenced by a plethora of factors, including the organism's developmental stage, infection by pathogens, diet, environmental conditions, culture methods, and exposure to toxins. Intestinal microbial communities in crayfish exhibit high plasticity, with infections leading to reduced diversity and abundance. The addition of synbiotic supplementation seems to provide better results than probiotics and prebiotics separately; however, there are still conflicting results regarding the optimal concentration.

Keywords: crayfish; decapods; dietary supplementation; gut; health; microbiome; microbiota.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research was co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH-CREATE-INNOVATE (Project Code: T2EDK-03191).