Rhodobacter sphaeroides supplementation improves defense ability of Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis against Shewanella putrefaciens infection via intestinal flora and metabolism regulation

Haipeng Cao; Xurui Zheng; Chenhao Teng; La Xu; Youhong Wang; Chunlei Gai; Haibin Ye

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2024.108120

Rhodobacter sphaeroides supplementation improves defense ability of Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis against Shewanella putrefaciens infection via intestinal flora and metabolism regulation

J Invertebr Pathol. 2024 Apr 27:204:108120. doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2024.108120. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Haipeng Cao¹, Xurui Zheng², Chenhao Teng², La Xu³, Youhong Wang³, Chunlei Gai⁴, Haibin Ye⁵

Affiliations

¹ National Pathogen Collection Center for Aquatic Animals, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: hpcao@shou.edu.cn.
² National Pathogen Collection Center for Aquatic Animals, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Aquaculture, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
³ Marine Science Research Institute of Shandong Province (National Oceanographic Center), Qingdao, Shandong 266104, China.
⁴ Marine Science Research Institute of Shandong Province (National Oceanographic Center), Qingdao, Shandong 266104, China. Electronic address: chunlei317@sohu.com.
⁵ Marine Science Research Institute of Shandong Province (National Oceanographic Center), Qingdao, Shandong 266104, China. Electronic address: yehaibin@263.net.

PMID: 38679366
DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2024.108120

Abstract

Shewanella putrefaciens is a vital bacterial pathogen implicated in serious diseases in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis. Yet the use of probiotics to improve the defense ability of E. sinensis against S. putrefaciens infection remains poorly understood. In the present study, the protective effect of dietary R. sphaeroides against S. putrefaciens infection in E. sinensis was evaluated through antioxidant capability, immune response, and survival under bacterial challenge assays, and its protective mechanism was further explored using a combination of intestinal flora and metabolome assays. Our results indicated that dietary R. sphaeroides could significantly improve immunity and antioxidant ability of Chinese mitten crabs, thereby strengthening their disease resistance with the relative percentage survival of 81.09% against S. putrefaciens. In addition, dietary R. sphaeroides could significantly alter the intestinal microbial composition and intestinal metabolism of crabs, causing not only the reduction of potential threatening pathogen load but also the increase of differential metabolites in tryptophan metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism. Furthermore, the regulation of differential metabolites such as N-Acetylserotonin positively correlated with beneficial Rhodobacter could be a potential protection strategy for Shewanella infection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to illustrate the protective effect and mechanism of R. sphaeroides supplementation to protect E. sinensis against S. putrefaciens infection.

Keywords: Eriocheir sinensis; Protective effect and mechanism; Rhodobacter sphaeroides; Shewanella putrefaciens.