Vibrio cholerae
Infection Induces Strain Specific Modulation of the Zebrafish Intestinal Microbiome
Zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) are an attractive model organism for a variety of scientific studies, including host-microbe interactions. Zebrafish contain a core ( i.e. , consistently detected) intestinal microbiome consisting primarily of Proteobacteria. Furthermore, this core intestinal microbiome is plastic, and can be significantly altered to due external factors. Zebrafish are particularly useful for the study of aquatic microbes that can colonize vertebrate hosts, including Vibrio cholerae . As an intestinal pathogen, V. cholerae must colonize the intestine of an exposed host for pathogenicity to occur. Members of the resident intestinal microbial community likely must be reduced or eliminated by V. cholerae in order for colonization, and subsequent disease, to occur. While numerous studies have explored various aspects of the pathogenic effects of V. cholerae on zebrafish and other model organisms, few have examined how a V. cholerae infection alters the resident intestinal microbiome. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was utilized to investigate how five genetically diverse V. cholerae strains alter the intestinal microbiome following an infection. We found that V. cholerae colonization induced significant changes in the zebrafish intestinal microbiome. Notably, changes in the microbial profile were significantly different from each other, based on the particular strain of V. cholerae used to infect zebrafish hosts. We conclude that V. cholerae significantly modulates the zebrafish intestinal microbiota to enable colonization and specific microbes that are targeted depend on the V. cholerae genotype.