Gastrointestinal dysbiosis induced by Nocardia sp. infection in tilapia

Nocardiosis has caused high mortalities among fish cultures; however, the effects of Nocardia infections in the fish gastrointestinal microbiota are unknown. In this research, tilapia was infected with Nocardia sp., to analyze the effect of infection on the gastrointestinal microbiota. Tilapia infected with Nocardia sp. reported a 46 % survival (100 % in non-infected). Moreover, the infection caused severe damage to the stomach microbiota, with a loss of diversity and a significant increase of Proteobacteria (94.8 %), resulting in a negative correlation network between Proteobacteria and other important phyla. Nocardia sp. is an emerging pathogen capable of inducing dysbiosis and causing significant mortalities.

Automated summary

In this research, the effects of Nocardia infection on fish gastrointestinal microbiota were analyzed. It was found that the infection led to decreased survival rate, severe damage to the stomach microbiota, and a significant increase in Proteobacteria. A negative correlation network between Proteobacteria and other important phyla was observed. Therefore, Nocardia sp. is an emerging pathogen capable of inducing dysbiosis and causing significant mortalities.