This study investigated microbial community composition as well as their correlation with environmental factors of Apostichopus japonicus culture ponds in northern China by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results showed that microbiota richness varied consistently with diversity in the pond ecosystem. Microbiota richness and diversity were highest in sediment, followed by gut of A. japonicus and water. The dominant bacterial phylum in the pond ecosystem is Proteobacteria. Gammaproteobacteriaeria and Flavobacteria are two dominant bacterial classes in the ecosystem. There is significant difference (p < 0.05) between dominant bacterial communities at the levels of order, family and genus. There is also remarkable regional difference (p < 0.05) between microbial community composition in the pond ecosystems. Specifically, microbial community composition in Changhai and Yingkou show a high similarity, so do those of Laoting and Rushan. According to the redundancy analysis of the microbial community composition and pond environmental factors, chemical oxygen demand is the dominant environmental factor determining microbial community composition in pond water; sulphide has the greatest influence on the microbial community composition in pond sediment; the rest of environmental factors have varied influence on microbial community composition in pond ecosystems.

Background: DNA methylation plays an important role in life processes by affecting gene expression, but it is still unclear how DNA methylation is controlled and how it regulates gene transcription under high temperature stress conditions in Strongylocentrotus intermedius. The potential link between DNA methylation variation and gene expression changes in response to heat stress in S. intermedius was investigated by MethylRAD-seq and RNA-seq analysis. We screened DNA methylation driver genes in order to comprehensively elucidate the regulatory mechanism of its high temperature adaptation at the DNA/RNA level. Results: The results revealed that high temperature stress significantly affected not only the DNA methylation and transcriptome levels of S. intermedius (P < 0.05), but also growth. MethylRAD-seq analysis revealed 12,129 CG differential methylation sites and 966 CWG differential methylation sites, and identified a total of 189 differentially CG methylated genes and 148 differentially CWG methylated genes. Based on KEGG enrichment analysis, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are mostly enriched in energy and cell division, immune, and neurological damage pathways. Further RNA-seq analysis identified a total of 1968 DEGs, of which 813 genes were upregulated and 1155 genes were downregulated. Based on the joint MethylRAD-seq and RNA-seq analysis, metabolic processes such as glycosaminoglycan degradation, oxidative phosphorylation, apoptosis, glutathione metabolism, thermogenesis, and lysosomes are regulated by DNA methylation. Conclusions: High temperature affected the DNA methylation and expression levels of genes such as MOAP-1, GGT1 and RDH8, which in turn affects the metabolism of HPSE, Cox, glutathione, and retinol, thereby suppressing the immune, energy metabolism, and antioxidant functions of the organism and finally manifesting as stunted growth. In summary, the observations in the present study improve our understanding of the molecular mechanism of the response to high temperature stress in sea urchin.

Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) is a frequently detected antibiotic in the environment, and there is a growing concern about its potential toxic effects on aquatic organisms. sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicas) is a benthic invertebrate whose gut acts as a primary immune defense and serves critical protective barrier. In this study, growth performance, histology, gut microbiota, and metabolomics analyses were performed to investigate the toxic response in the intestine of sea cucumber effects caused by SMZ stress for 56 d by evaluating with different concentrations of SMZ (0, 1.2×10^-3, and 1.2 mg/L). The weight gain rate of sea cucumbers under SMZ stress showed significant decrease, indicating that the growth of sea cucumbers was hindered. Analysis of the intestinal morphological features indicated that SMZ stimulation resulted in atrophy of the sea cucumber gut. In the 1.2×10^-3 mg/L concentration, the thickness of muscle and mucosal layers was reduced by 12.40% and 21.39%, while in the 1.2 mg/L concentration, the reductions were 35.08% and 26.98%. The abundance and diversity of sea cucumber intestinal bacteria decreased significantly (P < 0.05) under the influence of SMZ. Notably, the intestinal bacteria of sea cucumber became homogenized with the increase in SMZ concentration, and the relative abundance of Ralstonia reached 81.64% under the stress of 1.2 mg/L concentration. The SMZ stress significantly impacted host metabolism and disrupted balance, particularly in L-threonine, L-tyrosine, neuronic acid, piperine, and docosapentaenoic acid. SMZ leads to dysregulation of metabolites, resulting in growth inhibition and potential inflammatory responses that could adversely affect the normal activities of aquatic organisms. Further metabolic pathway enrichment analyses demonstrated that impaired biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis metabolic pathway were major reasons for SMZ stress-induced intestinal bacteria dysbiosis. This research aims to provide some theoretical evidence for the ecological hazard assessment of antibiotics in water.

The bacterial community is an essential component of the aquaculture pond ecosystem, which not only improves and restores the aquaculture environment but also maintains a stable ecological equilibrium with the external environment. Here, Illumina 16S rRNA sequencing was conducted to characterize the bacterial community in the ecosystem of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus culture ponds, as well as their correlation with overall community structures. The alpha-diversities of bacterial community among water, sediment, and the gut of A. japonicus were consistent across culture ponds from different areas. Specifically, the richness and diversity of bacterial communities were the highest in sediment, followed by the gut, and the lowest in water. The dominant bacterial community among multiple media was Proteobacteria, which occupies a large proportion of the bacterial community structure, followed by Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia. Highly similar bacterial community structures were present in multiple media among different areas, which provides evidence for deterministic natural evolution. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the specific bacterial communities across the multiple media. The specific functions of the multiple media in the ecosystem are the main reason for the formation of different bacterial communities. This work demonstrates that bacterial communities are the result of natural evolution within the ecosystem during adaptation to the required environment.