Starvation Influences the Microbiota in the Stomach of the Corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish.

ABSTRACT: The crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.), is responsible for a considerable amount of coral loss in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. After decimating coral populations through predation, it is expected that CoTS will face food scarcity before coral recovery. It is unclear how CoTS respond to starvation stress. Therefore, we conducted a four-month starvation stress experiment on CoTS, and analyzed the response characteristics of its stomach bacterial communities using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing. The results showed no significant differences in the α-diversity of the stomach bacterial community, but the β-diversity differed significantly between fed and starved CoTS. The bacterial community composition in the CoTS stomach changed dramatically, manifesting mainly

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12383813 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature