Microbiota plasticity in tilapia gut revealed by meta-analysis evaluating the effect of probiotics, prebiotics, and biofloc

Abstract

Tilapia species are among the most cultivated fish worldwide due to their biological advantages but face several challenges, including environmental impact and disease outbreaks. Feed additives, such as probiotics, prebiotics, and other microorganisms, have emerged as strategies to protect against pathogens and promote immune system activation and other host responses, with consequent reductions in antibiotic use. Because these additives also influence tilapia’s gut microbiota and positively affect the tilapia culture, we assume it is a flexible annex organ capable of being subject to significant modifications without affecting the biological performance of the host. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of probiotics and other additives ingested by tilapia on its gut microbiota through a meta-analysis of several bioprojects studying the tilapia gut microbiota exposed to feed additives (probiotic, prebiotic, biofloc). A total of 221 tilapia gut microbiota samples from 14 bioprojects were evaluated. Alpha and beta diversity metrics showed no differentiation patterns in relation to the control group, either comparing additives as a group or individually. Results also revealed a control group with a wide dispersion pattern even when these fish did not receive additives. After concatenating the information, the tilapia gut core microbiota was represented by four enriched phyla including Proteobacteria (31%), Fusobacteria (23%), Actinobacteria (19%), and Firmicutes (16%), and seven minor phyla Planctomycetes (1%), Chlamydiae (1%), Chloroflexi (1%), Cyanobacteria (1%), Spirochaetes (1%), Deinococcus Thermus (1%), and Verrucomicrobia (1%). Finally, results suggest that the tilapia gut microbiota is a dynamic microbial community that can plastically respond to feed additives exposure with the potential to influence its taxonomic profile allowing a considerable optimal range of variation, probably guaranteeing its physiological function under different circumstances.

Advances in the Effects of Dietary Macronutrients on the Gut Microbiota of Tilapia (Oreochromis spp.)

“…Tilapia ( Oreochromis spp.) is an omnivorous fish with advantages such as delicious meat, rich nutrition, fast growth, and strong disease resistance [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Tilapia is a good model fish for nutrition and metabolism research because of its well-developed and well-characterized digestive and metabolic features as well as the availability of complete genomic information [ 4 ].…”

“…Tilapia has been one of the most important farmed finfish [ 6 ]. The tilapia industry can increase food security, nutritional value, and household incomes, thereby improving welfare in developing countries [ 2 ]. In recent years, the international market demand for tilapia has been increasing, being second only to trout in the global freshwater fish trade [ 1 ].…”

“…Gut microbes are closely related to body health; for example, they play an important role in the host fish development, nutrient metabolism, immunity, and endocrine and nervous systems [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. In a study on the tilapia gut microbiota, a meta-analysis indicated that the predominant bacteria at the phylum level include Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, while at the genus level, the predominant bacteria include Cetobacterium , Lactobacillus , Legionella , Lactococcus , Rhodobacter , Pelomonas , and Streptococcus [ 2 ]. It is well known that food composition can affect the gut microbiota.…”