Changes in the intestinal bacterial community during the growth of white shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei

In this study, we documented the changes in the intestinal bacterial community at four stages in Litopenaeus vannamei: 14 days postlarvae (L14) and 1‐, 2‐ and 3‐month old juveniles (J1, J2, J3), using 454 pyrosequencing techniques. The intestinal bacterial community was dominated by three bacterial phyla, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria at all stages. However, the relative abundance and bacterial lineages varied at the family level. The intestinal bacterial community of L14 and J1 was similar, with dominant members belonging to the Comamonadaceae of Betaproteobacteria. Conversely, bacterial members affiliated to Flavobacteriaceae of Bacteroidetes were dominant in J2 and Vibrionaceae of Gammaproteobacteria was dominant in J3. The abundance of Microbacteriaceae of Actinobacteria also fluctuated during the four stages. Bacterial members of Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae (Alphaproteobacteria) were present through all growth stages, and likely form the intestinal core microbiome of L. vannamei. However, they varied at the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level through the growth stages. The intestinal bacterial community of pond‐rearing shrimp included the three main bacterial phyla identified above, and an additional group, Mycoplasmataceae of Mollicutes. Our results demonstrate that the intestinal bacterial community of L. vannamei was highly dynamic during the growth stages. Bacterial members belonging to Commamonadaceae dominated in the earlier growth stage of shrimp, possibly influenced by feeding with Artemia nauplii, but there was a shift to Flavobacteriaceae in the mid and Vibrionaceae in the late growth stages.