Bacterial analysis in the early developmental stages of the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon)

Microbial colonization is an essential process in the early life of animal hosts-a crucial phase that could help influence and determine their health status at the later stages. The establishment of bacterial community in a host has been comprehensively studied in many animal models; however, knowledge on bacterial community associated with the early life stages of Penaeus monodon (the black tiger shrimp) is still limited. Here, we examined the bacterial community structures in four life stages (nauplius, zoea, mysis and postlarva) of two black tiger shrimp families using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing by a next-generation sequencing. Although the bacterial profiles exhibited different patterns in each developmental stage, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Planctomycetes were identified as common bacterial phyla associated with shrimp. Interestingly, the bacterial diversity became relatively stable once shrimp developed to postlarvae (5-day-old and 15-day-old postlarval stages), suggesting an establishment of the bacterial community in matured shrimp. To our knowledge, this is the first report on bacteria establishment and assembly in early developmental stages of P. monodon. Our findings showed that the bacterial compositions could be shaped by different host developmental stages where the interplay of various host-associated factors, such as physiology, immune status and required diets, could have a strong influence.