The use of green fluorescent protein as a marker for monitoring a probiotic Bacillus S11 in the black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon

To monitor the probiotic Bacillus S11 (BS11) in vivo , wild-type cells were transformed with the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing plasmid, pAD44-12, carrying the gfp mut3a gene under the constitutive Bacillus cereus UW85 promoter, and its non-GFP control plasmid pAD. Transformants with pAD44-12 (BS11-GFP), not pAD (BS11-pAD), expressed detectable but not too high levels of green fluorescence. Chloramphenicol resistance (BS11-GFP, BS11-pAD) and GFP fluorescence (BS11-GFP) as markers suggested that plasmid retention was 78–79% for both BS11-GFP and BS11-pAD cells after approximately 50 generations of growth without antibiotic selection. When mixed into shrimp feed at a final concentration ∼10⁵ CFU g⁻¹, the inclusion of viable transformed bacteria in fed shrimps was observed. After feeding shrimp three times daily in 400-L cement tanks for 9 weeks, no significant differences in the average shrimp weight, the number of BS11 in either the culture water or in the shrimp's gut were seen between shrimp fed BS11-GFP and BS11-pAD or BS11, suggesting that expression of the gfp mut3a gene has no detectable effect on BS11 properties and shrimp growth. Histological examination of sections of shrimp's intestines following feeding with BS11-GFP demonstrated that BS11-GFP in shrimp feed survived and adhered onto the shrimp intestines' surface. BS11-GFP thus has good potential as a non-invasive marker tag for short-term experiments.