Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding
In this study, the eukaryotic composition of gut contents in three tropical sea cucumber species, <i>Stichopus monotuberculatus</i>, <i>S. chloronotus</i> and <i>Holothuria atra</i> were surveyed and compared by metabarcoding analysis based on 18S rRNA gene V4 reg...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| author | Chenghao Jia Yue Zhang Qiang Xu Chunyang Sun Yanan Wang Fei Gao |
| author_facet | Chenghao Jia Yue Zhang Qiang Xu Chunyang Sun Yanan Wang Fei Gao |
| author_sort | Chenghao Jia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study, the eukaryotic composition of gut contents in three tropical sea cucumber species, <i>Stichopus monotuberculatus</i>, <i>S. chloronotus</i> and <i>Holothuria atra</i> were surveyed and compared by metabarcoding analysis based on 18S rRNA gene V4 region. The sequences were assigned to 21.80 ± 1.07, 22.60 ± 0.68 and 22.40 ± 0.25 different phyla from the gut contents of <i>S. monotuberculatus</i>, <i>S. chloronotus</i> and <i>H. atra,</i> respectively, and those in sediment samples were assigned to 21.00 ± 1.67 phyla. The results of α-diversity showed that surface sediments had a greater eukaryotic diversity than gut contents, yet the guts of sea cucumbers had an enrichment effect on some microorganisms, including Diatomea and Apicomplex. A comparison of the gut eukaryotic community among the three species suggested that the feeding preference was different: <i>S. monotuberculatus</i> fed mainly on Diatomea and Arthropoda, and the other two species had higher Apicomplexa concentrations, which may be due to differences in the morphology of the tentacles and habitat preferences. Moreover, obvious different eukaryotic community composition in the gut contents of the three sea cucumber species and the surrounding sediments also might result from the animals’ selective feeding for sediment patches. The current study filled in gaps about feeding mechanisms of tropical sea cucumbers and provided a basis for further exploring the mechanism about selective feeding and sea cucumber–sediment interaction in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:29Z |
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| id | doaj.art-4fb6f08a999c4dc79d2912790c76cf28 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
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| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fb6f08a999c4dc79d2912790c76cf282023-11-23T12:38:42ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-09-011217230310.3390/ani12172303Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by MetabarcodingChenghao Jia0Yue Zhang1Qiang Xu2Chunyang Sun3Yanan Wang4Fei Gao5State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaIn this study, the eukaryotic composition of gut contents in three tropical sea cucumber species, <i>Stichopus monotuberculatus</i>, <i>S. chloronotus</i> and <i>Holothuria atra</i> were surveyed and compared by metabarcoding analysis based on 18S rRNA gene V4 region. The sequences were assigned to 21.80 ± 1.07, 22.60 ± 0.68 and 22.40 ± 0.25 different phyla from the gut contents of <i>S. monotuberculatus</i>, <i>S. chloronotus</i> and <i>H. atra,</i> respectively, and those in sediment samples were assigned to 21.00 ± 1.67 phyla. The results of α-diversity showed that surface sediments had a greater eukaryotic diversity than gut contents, yet the guts of sea cucumbers had an enrichment effect on some microorganisms, including Diatomea and Apicomplex. A comparison of the gut eukaryotic community among the three species suggested that the feeding preference was different: <i>S. monotuberculatus</i> fed mainly on Diatomea and Arthropoda, and the other two species had higher Apicomplexa concentrations, which may be due to differences in the morphology of the tentacles and habitat preferences. Moreover, obvious different eukaryotic community composition in the gut contents of the three sea cucumber species and the surrounding sediments also might result from the animals’ selective feeding for sediment patches. The current study filled in gaps about feeding mechanisms of tropical sea cucumbers and provided a basis for further exploring the mechanism about selective feeding and sea cucumber–sediment interaction in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/17/2303sea cucumbereukaryotic food sourcemetabarcoding18S rRNA |
| spellingShingle | Chenghao Jia Yue Zhang Qiang Xu Chunyang Sun Yanan Wang Fei Gao Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding Animals sea cucumber eukaryotic food source metabarcoding 18S rRNA |
| title | Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding |
| title_full | Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding |
| title_fullStr | Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding |
| title_short | Comparative Analysis of In Situ Eukaryotic Food Sources in Three Tropical Sea Cucumber Species by Metabarcoding |
| title_sort | comparative analysis of in situ eukaryotic food sources in three tropical sea cucumber species by metabarcoding |
| topic | sea cucumber eukaryotic food source metabarcoding 18S rRNA |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/17/2303 |
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