| Summary: | The mud snail <i>Cipangopaludina cathayensis</i> is a widely distributed species in China. Particularly in Guangxi province, mud snail farming contributes significantly to the economic development. However, global warming in recent decades poses a serious threat to global aquaculture production. The rising water temperature is harmful to aquatic animals. The present study explored the effects of high temperature on the intestinal microbiota of <i>C. cathayensis</i>. Snail intestinal samples were collected from the control and high-temperature groups on days 3 and 7 to determine the gut microbiota composition and diversity. Gut bacterial community composition was investigated using high-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Our results suggested that thermal stress altered the gut microbiome structure of <i>C. cathayensis</i>. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were dominant in <i>C. cathayensis</i> gut microbiota. The T2 treatment (32 ± 1 °C, day 7) significantly decreased the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Deinococcus-Thermus. In T2, the abundance of several genera of putatively beneficial bacteria (<i>Pseudomonas</i>, <i>Aeromonas</i>, <i>Rhodobacter</i>, and <i>Bacteroides</i>) decreased, whereas the abundance of <i>Halomonas</i>—a pathogenic bacterial genus—increased. The functional prediction results indicated that T2 treatment inhibited some carbohydrate metabolism pathways and induced certain disease-related pathways (e.g., those related to systemic lupus erythematosus, <i>Vibrio cholerae</i> infection, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and shigellosis). Thus, high temperature profoundly affected the community structure and function of <i>C. cathayensis</i> gut microbiota. The results provide insights into the mechanisms associated with response of <i>C. cathayensis</i> intestinal microbiota to global warming.
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