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
. 2024 Dec 23;22(12):576.
doi: 10.3390/md22120576.

Effects of Acute Salinity Stress on the Histological and Bacterial Community Structure and Function in Intestine of Stichopus monotuberculatus

Lianghua Huang  1   2   3 , Hui Wang  4 , Chuanyan Pan  4 , Xueming Yang  4 , Guoqing Deng  1   2 , Yaowen Meng  1   2 , Yongxiang Yu  5 , Xiuli Chen  4 , Shengping Zhong  1   2
Affiliations

Effects of Acute Salinity Stress on the Histological and Bacterial Community Structure and Function in Intestine of Stichopus monotuberculatus

Lianghua Huang et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

This study focused on Stichopus monotuberculatus and conducted stress experiments at salinity levels of 20‱ and 40‱. Intestinal histological changes and the structural characteristics of the intestinal flora of S. monotuberculatus under salinity stress were analyzed. The results show that acute salinity stress inflicts varying degrees of damage to the intestinal tissues of S. monotuberculatus. Salinity stress enhances the species diversity of intestinal flora in S. monotuberculatus. Eight phyla of bacteria are detected in the intestine of S. monotuberculatus. Dominant phyla include Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. Furthermore, functional prediction reveals that acute salinity stress can significantly modify the abundance of pathways associated with nutrient and energy metabolism mediated by the intestinal flora of S. monotuberculatus. These results indicate that acute salinity stress induces pathological damage to the intestinal tissues of S. monotuberculatus, compromising the microbial habitat and leading to alterations in the intestinal flora composition. Additionally, S. monotuberculatus can mitigate salinity stress by adjusting the composition of its intestinal flora and the corresponding functional pathways.

Keywords: Stichopus monotuberculatus; dominant bacteria; histological characteristics; intestinal flora; salinity stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transverse sections of intestinal tissues (foregut) HE staining of S. monotuberculatus under different salinity. LSG: low-salinity group; CG: control group; HSG: high-salinity group. IV: intestinal villi; L: lumen; IC: crypt; M: mucosa; SMC: submucosa; MM: muscularis layer; S: serosa layer; BB: brush border; GC: goblet cell; CSMM: circular smooth muscle; LSMM: longitudinal smooth muscle. The blue arrow indicates the presence of vacuolation in the intestine; the red arrow indicates death to epithelial cell of the intestine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sample dilution curve.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Venn diagrams of OTUs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Beta diversity analysis index based on PCA analysis. Note: (a–c) respectively represent the PCA diagram of intestinal flora in S. monotuberculatus treated with different salinity for 24 h, 48 h and 96 h; (d–f) respectively represent the PCA diagram of intestinal flora in S. monotuberculatus treated with the same salinity and different treatment time, (d): low-salinity group; (e): control group; (f): high-salinity group.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relative abundance of bacterial community in the gut of S. monotuberculatus at the level of phylum.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Relative abundance of bacterial community in the gut of S. monotuberculatus at the level of genus.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Heatmap showing the abundance distribution of potential functional pathways of gut bacterial communities in S. monotuberculatus under different salinity and different stress times. Note: The color from blue to red represents an increase in the abundance of the corresponding functional pathway; samples under different salinity stress were clustered according to functional pathways.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Liao Y. Fauna Sinica: Phylum Echinodermata Class Holothuroidea. Science Press; Beijing, China: 1997.
    1. Purcell S.W., Conand C., Uthicke S., Byrne M. Ecological roles of exploited sea cucumbers. In: Hughes R.N., Hughes D.J., Smith I.P., Dale A.C., editors. Oceanography and Marine Biology. Volume 54. Taylor & Francis Group; London, UK: 2016. pp. 367–386.
    1. Yang H.S., Xu S., Lin C.G., Sun J.C., Zhang L.B. Research progress and prospects of restoration and resource conservation in typical sea areas. Oceanol. Limnol. Sin. 2020;51:809–820.
    1. Yang H.S., Xiao N., Zhang T. Present Status and Prospect of the Study of Echinoderms. Stud. Mar. Sin. 2016;51:125–131.
    1. Sun S. Master’s Thesis. Hainan University; Haikou, China: 2020. Effects of Important Environmental Factors on the Movement Behavior of Stichopus herrmanni.

LinkOut - more resources