Analysis of gut bacterial community characteristics in Penaeus japonicus with different body sizes

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20250569

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2026, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6): 1187-1197.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20250569

• Animal Science • Previous Articles Next Articles

Analysis of gut bacterial community characteristics in Penaeus japonicus with different body sizes

CHEN Ting¹(), LU Yangyang², CHEN Heping³, XIA Wuqiang¹, CHEN Chen⁴, LIU Wei¹, GUO Haipeng¹^,²()

¹ Xiangshan (Ningbo University) Aquatic Breeding Industry Innovation Research Institute, Xiangshan 315700, Zhejiang, China
² School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, China
³ School of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Geography Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, China
⁴ Zhejiang Mariculture Research Institute, Wenzhou 325005, Zhejiang, China

Received:2025-09-04 Online:2026-06-25 Published:2026-07-14

Abstract

Abstract:

To clarify the differences in gut bacterial communities among Penaeus japonicus with different sizes, this study analyzed the gut bacterial community characteristics of three size groups of Penaeus japonicus[large shrimp (body length ≥ 9 cm), medium shrimp (7.5 cm<body length<9 cm), and small shrimp (body length ≤ 7.5 cm)] using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing technology. The results showed that the α-diversity indices of the gut bacterial community in large and medium shrimps were lower than those in small shrimp, but their community structures were more gathered, with significantly higher within-group similarity and absolute values of negative/positive cohesion. These parameters were significantly positively correlated with shrimp’s body length and weight. The gut bacterial community was mainly composed of γ-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, α-Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Among these, the average relative abundance of γ-Proteobacteria exceeded 70%, and its abundance in large and medium shrimps was higher than that in small shrimp. The guts of large and medium shrimp were significantly enriched in Pseudomonas zOTU1 (zero-radius operational taxonomic unit), zOTU77, Campylobacter zOTU104, and Spongiibacter zOTU33, while the small shrimp gut was significantly enriched by eight zOTUs from Vibrionaceae and Motilimonas zOTU3, Pseudoalteromonas zOTU17. These taxa were significantly correlated with shrimp growth rate. The construction of the gut bacterial community conformed to the neutral model in all groups, but neutral process played a greater role in the bacterial communities of large and medium shrimps. Moreover, the relative abundance of zOTUs distributed within the neutral prediction range was higher in large and medium shrimp than in small shrimp. The zOTUs beyond the neutral prediction range in large and medium shrimp mainly consisted of γ-Proteobacteria, α-Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. In conclusion, this study indicates that the gut bacterial community of Penaeus japonicus may be closely related to its growth and provides a theoretical basis for targeted regulation of shrimp growth.

Key words: Penaeus japonicus, gut bacterial community, compositional difference, neutral model, α-diversity, growth rate

CLC Number:

S917.4

CHEN Ting, LU Yangyang, CHEN Heping, XIA Wuqiang, CHEN Chen, LIU Wei, GUO Haipeng. Analysis of gut bacterial community characteristics in Penaeus japonicus with different body sizes[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2026, 38(6): 1187-1197.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Body length and body weight of shrimp with different sizes from the same culture pond a, Phenotypic photographs of Penaeus japonicus with different sizes from the same culture pond; b, Body length of Penaeus japonicus with different sizes; c, Body weight of Penaeus japonicus with different sizes. Bars marked without the same different lowercase letters indicate significant (p<0.05) differences. The scale bar in figure a represents 1 cm. “Big”, “Med”, and “Sma” represent large-sized, medium-sized, and small-sized shrimp, respectively. The same as below.

Fig.2 Alpha-diversity indices of the intestinal bacterial communities in Penaeus japonicus with different sizes * indicates p<0.05; ** indicates p<0.01; **** indicates p<0.000 1. The same as below.

Fig.3 Gut bacterial community structure and network cohesion parameters of Penaeus japonicus with different sizes, and their correlations with body length and weight a, Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of the gut bacterial community; b, Intra-class similarity of the gut bacterial community; c, Inter-class similarity of the gut bacterial community; d, Network cohesion parameters of the gut bacterial community; e, Correlations between α-diversity parameters, intra-class similarity, network cohesion parameters and body length/weight of Penaeus japonicus. *** indicates p<0.001.

Table 1 ANOSIM (analysis of similarities) and PERMANOVA (permutational multivariate analysis of variance, permutation=999) analyses of gut bacterial communities in Penaeus japonicus with different sizes

组别 Group	ANOSIM		PERMANOVA
组别 Group	R	p	R²	p
整体Total	0.467	0.001	0.377	0.001
大虾vs.中虾Large-sized shrimp vs. medium-sized shrimp	0.112	0.096	0.116	0.090
大虾vs.小虾Large-sized shrimp vs. small-sized shrimp	0.600	0.001	0.441	0.001
中虾vs.小虾Medium-sized shrimp vs. small-sized shrimp	0.612	0.001	0.373	0.001

Fig.4 Gut bacterial community compositions in Penaeus japonicus with different sizes

Fig.5 Differential taxa of the gut bacterial community in Penaeus japonicus with different sizes and their correlation with shrimp body length and body weight

Fig.6 Neutral processes in the gut microbiota assembly of Penaeus japonicus with different sizes a, Neutral model; b, Proportion of zOTU relative abundances conforming to and deviating from the neutral model; c, Taxonomic annotation of zOTUs with abundances exceeding the model expectation (upper); d, Taxonomic annotation of zOTUs with abundances below the model expectation (below).

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Analysis of gut bacterial community characteristics in Penaeus japonicus with different body sizes

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