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. 2019 Jul 22;7(7):209.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms7070209.

Insights into the Potential of the Atlantic Cod Gut Microbiome as Biomarker of Oil Contamination in the Marine Environment

Juline M Walter  1 , Andrea Bagi  2 , Daniela M Pampanin  3   4
Affiliations

Insights into the Potential of the Atlantic Cod Gut Microbiome as Biomarker of Oil Contamination in the Marine Environment

Juline M Walter et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Background: Microorganisms are widespread in all environments, including in and on animal bodies. The gut microbiome has an essential influence on fish health, and is affected by several persistent and harmful organic and inorganic contaminants. Considering the shifts in gut microbiota composition observed in those studies, we hypothesized that certain microbial groups in the gut can serve as indicators of pollution. To test this hypothesis, we explored the possibility of identifying key microbial players that indicate environmental contamination.

Methods: Published 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data generated from the gut microbiota of Atlantic cod caught in geographically different Norwegian waters were used for bacterial diversity comparison.

Results: Different microbiomes were identified between the northern Norway and southern Norway samples. Several bacterial genera previously identified as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders were present only in the samples collected in the southern Norway area, suggesting fish contamination with oil-related compounds.

Conclusions: The results contribute to the identification of bacterial taxa present in the Atlantic cod gut that indicate fish exposure to contaminants in the marine environment.

Keywords: animal; gut; marine; microbiome; prokaryote.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Microbial community composition in Atlantic cod gut samples from geographically different areas. Relative abundance of the sequences is expressed as percentage (%) and are presented at the phylum level (a), order level (b), and genus level (c).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Microbial community composition in Atlantic cod gut samples from geographically different areas. Relative abundance of the sequences is expressed as percentage (%) and are presented at the phylum level (a), order level (b), and genus level (c).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microbial community composition in Atlantic cod gut samples from northern and southern Norway. (a) Hierarchical clustering of amplicon sequence variant (ASVs) abundances generated through Bray–Curtis distance metric and Ward’s linkage method. (b) Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) ordination of all the samples based on the beta diversity analysis of ASV abundances generated using the Bray–Curtis distance metric. (c) Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) beta diversity ordination of individual samples calculated with weighted UniFrac distances. Oil exposure treatment codes: ctrl = control (no oil), low = low concentration of oil [11]; L = Lofoten; S = Sørøya.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Differential abundance of bacteria in Atlantic cod gut samples from northern and southern Norway. Wald tests of log2 fold differential abundances of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Sixteen genera revealed significant features, based on p values, with differential abundance.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Differential abundance of bacteria in Atlantic cod gut samples from northern and southern Norway. Wald tests of log2 fold differential abundances of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Sixteen genera revealed significant features, based on p values, with differential abundance.
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