Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug;86(2):1200-1212.
doi: 10.1007/s00248-022-02106-5. Epub 2022 Sep 7.

Predator Presence Alters Intestinal Microbiota in Mussel

Zhe Xie #  1   2 , Guangen Xu #  1   2 , Fengze Miao  1   2 , Hui Kong  1   2 , Menghong Hu  3   4 , Youji Wang  5   6
Affiliations

Predator Presence Alters Intestinal Microbiota in Mussel

Zhe Xie et al. Microb Ecol. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Intestinal microbes are essential participants in host vital activities. The composition of the microbiota is closely related to the environmental factors. Predator presence may impact on intestinal microbiota of prey. In the present study, stone crab Charybdis japonica was used as potential predator, an external stress on mussel Mytilus coruscus, to investigate the intestinal microbiota alteration in M. coruscus. We set up two forms of predator presence including free crab and trapped crab, with a blank treatment without crab. The composition of intestinal microbiota in mussels among different treatments showed significant differences by 16S rRNA techniques. The biodiversity increased with trapped crab presence, but decreased with free crab presence. Neisseria, the most abundant genus, fell with the presence of crabs. Besides, the Arcobacter, a kind of pathogenic bacteria, increased with free crab presence. Regarding PICRUTs analysis, Environmental Information Processing, Genetic Information Processing and Metabolism showed differences in crab presence treatments compared with the blank, with a bit higher in the presence of free crab than trapped crab. In conclusion, trapped crab effects activated the metabolism and immunity of the intestinal flora, but free crabs made mussels more susceptible to disease and mortality, corresponding to the decreased biodiversity and the increased Arcobacter in their intestine.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; Byssus; Charybdis Japonica; Intestinal Microbiota; Mussel; Predator Presence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Kosloski ME, Dietl GP, Handley JC (2017) Anatomy of a cline: dissecting anti-predatory adaptations in a marine gastropod along the US Atlantic coast. Ecography 40:1285–1299. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02444 - DOI
    1. Ling H, Fu S, Zeng L (2019) Predator stress decreases standard metabolic rate and growth in juvenile crucian carp under changing food availability. Comp Biochem 231:149–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.02.016 - DOI
    1. Madin EMP, Dill LM, Ridlon AD, Heithaus MR, Warner RR (2016) Human activities change marine ecosystems by altering predation risk. Glob Change Biol 22:44–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13083 - DOI
    1. Breviglieri CPB, Oliveira PS, Romero GQ (2017) Fear mediates trophic cascades: nonconsumptive effects of predators drive aquatic ecosystem function. Am Nat 189:490–500. https://doi.org/10.1086/691262 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Scrosati RA (2021) Nonconsumptive predator effects on prey demography: recent advances using intertidal invertebrates. Front Ecol Evol 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.626869

Substances

LinkOut - more resources