High Spatial and Temporal Variations of Microbial Community along the Southern Catfish Gastrointestinal Tract: Insights into Dynamic Food Digestion.

ABSTRACT: The fish intestinal microbiota is affected by dietary shifts or diet-related seasonal fluctuations making it highly variable and dynamic. It assists with the digestion and absorption of food that is a common, yet dynamic process. However, fundamental dynamics of microbial ecology associated with food digestion in intestine and stomach are poorly understood in fish. We selected the southern catfish, Silurus meridionalis, as the targeted species, owing to its foraging behavior with a large meal that can assure clear periodic rhythms in food digestion, to study spatial variations of the microbial community along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We further evaluated temporal microbial dynamics by collecting GI tract samples at time intervals 03, 12, and 24h after feeding. High-throughpu

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5552716 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature