About this Research Topic

Background

Microbial colonization and succession occur in every animal, including those associated with the aquatic environment. Increasing evidence indicates that the gut microbiota of aquatic animals varies considerably across host development. It can also be significantly affected by various factors such as host immunity, diseases, diets and abiotic environment. Such specifically colonized gut microbiota is known to be governed by both deterministic and neutral processes to regulate functions that have not evolved wholly on the host. For example, gut microorganisms in aquatic animals regulate host metabolism, promote growth, stimulate the immune system, and defend against diseases. Unfortunately, how the microorganisms colonize the gut ecosystem in aquatic animals and interact with each other and the mechanism regulating gut microbial functions remains unclear.

The assembly and succession of gut microbiota have been a central theme due to its complex interactions with the host and the role of its disruption in various disorders. However, the focus has been predominantly on terrestrial animals, particularly mammals. The mechanisms underlying gut microbiota succession in aquatic animals remain elusive, especially at a relatively long-term scale (e.g., over host development). How the microorganisms colonizing aquatic animals interact with each other is unclear. More data is needed to understand the pathways through which gut microbial functions are regulated.

Although many studies on humans and mammals indicated that ecological and evolutionary forces could affect the success of gut microbiota in terrestrial animals, much less is known about that in aquatic animals' gut ecosystems. Aquatic animals such as fish encompass nearly one-half of the vertebrate diversity and are considered the most successful vertebrates on Earth. However, their successful evolution may not be possible without the help of gut microbiota. Therefore, this special issue aims to publish a manuscript that clarifies the assembly and functions of gut microbiota in aquatic animals.

The Research Topic will mainly focus on the gut microbiota of aquatic animals and the related environmental microbiota:

(1) mechanisms underlying the assembly and ecological succession of gut microbiota;
(2) ecological service functions of gut microbiota on host metabolism, disease resistance, etc.;
(3) the element cycling is driven by environmental microbiota and their adaptation mechanisms in aquaculture ecosystems.
(4) disruption of microbiota in disorder development in aquatic animals

The types of manuscripts we are interested in will include Original Research, Reviewer, Technology Report, Methods, Opinion and Perspective.

Kindly note that we welcome research employing environmental ~omics approaches, including the report of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) sequences: these must, however, be accompanied by contextual environmental data or experiments that address aspects of the biology of the studied microorganisms. Moreover, submissions based on environmental genomics should generally not be based on limited replication (e.g. single samples, stations or time points), and datasets should be deposited in and accessible from pertinent public repositories at the time of submission. In most cases, descriptive studies of microbial community structures in highly specialized and/or engineered biomes such as aquaculture or mariculture will not be considered.

Keywords: Community assembly, microbial functions, gut microbiota, host-microbiota interactions, environmental microbiome

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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