AUTHOR=Abdelhafiz Yousri , Fernandes Jorge M. O. , Donati Claudio , Pindo Massimo , Kiron Viswanath 

TITLE=Intergenerational Transfer of Persistent Bacterial Communities in Female Nile Tilapia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.879990

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.879990

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Resident microbial communities that can support various host functions play a key role in their development and health. In fishes, microbial symbionts are vertically transferred from the parents to their progeny. Such transfer of microbes in mouthbrooder fish species has not been reported yet. Here, we employed Nile tilapia (<italic>Oreochromis niloticus</italic>) to investigate the vertical transmission of microbes across generations using a 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing approach, based on the presence of bacteria in different generations. Our analysis revealed that the core microbiome in the buccal cavity and posterior intestine of parents shapes the gut microbiome of the progeny across generations. We speculate that the route of this transmission is <italic>via</italic> the buccal cavity. The identified core microbiome bacteria, namely <italic>Nocardioides, Propionibacterium</italic>, and <italic>Sphingomonas</italic> have been reported to play an essential role in the health and development of offspring. These core microbiome members could have specific functions in fish, similar to mammals.</p>