Screening the microbiota of hepatopancreas associated with toxin genes pirABVP in Penaeus van-namei

Shrimp aquaculture has rapidly expanded in the last decades, representing an important economic activity worldwide; however, bacterial, and viral infections are one of the biggest challenges in aquaculture activity. Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) is a bacterial disease that affects shrimp farm ponds and occurs during the first 30 days after stocking in shrimp ponds, causing 70-100% mortalities. Microbiota has an important role in developing shrimp aquaculture and disease control. In the present study, pirA and pirB genes were amplified by PCR to confirm AHPND and non-AHPND in shrimp hepatopancreas; samples were sequenced using the MiSeq platform targeting the V3-V4 16S ribosomal (rRNA) hypervariable regions. Results demonstrated a diverse microbiota in the non-AHPND group, mainly composed of phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. Furthermore, Proteobacteria was the dominant phyla in the hepatopancreas infected with AHPND, while Firmicutes tended to decrease. Vibrio was the most abundant at the genus level, prevailing in some genera like Corynebacterium, Weissella, Lactobacillus, Photobacterium, and Geobacillus. Results suggest that AHPND causes dysbiosis in the hepatopancreatic microbiota, and the Firmicutes phylum could require to be restored under such scenario.