Project description:With the increasing global demand for high-quality protein resources, improving the feed utilization rate and growth rate of aquaculture animals is the main way to solve the shortage of high-quality animal protein for humans. Improving the growth rate of Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the world's second most-produced freshwater prawn, is of particular importance for increasing the supply of high-quality protein to humans. In this study, we found that growth traits, such as body weight and weight gain of M. rosenbergii, were associated with gut microbes by applying 16s sequencing technology, as well as associated with hepatopancreatic and gonadal transcriptomes. By comparing the relative abundance of gut microbes between the male (high weight gain, HiWG) and female (low weight gain, LoWG) animals, we have shown that at the phyla, family and genera level, the abundance of microbes existed significantly difference between both groups. At the genera level, the abundance of Candidatus Hepatoplasma and unidentified Chloroplast lower in the LoWG animals than in the HiWG animals, and Lactobacillus and Ligilactobacillus have opposed trend. The abundance of Candidatus Hepatoplasma and unclassfied Chloroplast was associated with the growth traits in the HiWG group, as well as with the expression of glutathione peroxidase and collagen, which were highly expressed in the hepatopancreas and gonads of HiWG group animals and significantly associated with protein digestion, absorption and metabolism of M. rosenbergii and might promote growth and development. These associations were not detected in the female LoWG group.
