Recovery of intestinal microbial community in Penaeus vannamei after florfenicol perturbation

The concept and application of probiotic intervention for restoring intestinal microbial dysbiosis induced by antibiotics in aquaculture are still in early stages. This study aimed to investigate potential responses of various recovery strategies, including natural recovery and probiotic intervention, in restoring the growth and intestinal microbial community of Penaeus vannamei following florfenicol perturbation. The basal diet (control, CN) was supplemented with florfenicol (FC) or Lactobacillus plantarum W2 (LM) throughout the entire feeding trial. Meanwhile, the basal diet was supplemented with florfenicol for 7 days, followed by a period without florfenicol (natural recovery, FB), or with live strain W2 (probiotic recovery, FM), for a duration of 35 days. Results indicated that dietary supplementation of strain W2, whether continuous or following florfenicol perturbation, along with continuous florfenicol supplementation, significantly enhanced the growth performance of shrimp. Early natural recovery and probiotic intervention did not induce significant alterations in microbial diversity and community structure. Florfenicol perturbation resulted in a decrease in the abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria in intestinal microbial community of shrimp. However, both probiotic intervention and natural recovery strategies gradually reduced the abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria while increasing the abundance of potentially beneficial ones. The robustness of microbial network decreased during florfenicol perturbation, showed gradual improvement during probiotic recovery, and remained relatively low during natural recovery and continuous florfenicol supplementation. Moreover, the microbial community composition in intestinal habitat significantly differed under various recovery strategies compared to the control. Notably, the microbial community composition of intestinal habitat following probiotic recovery exhibited greater similarity to that of continuous strain W2 supplementation without florfenicol perturbation. In summary, dietary supplementation of florfenicol perturbed intestinal microbial community stability of shrimp, whereas probiotic intervention and natural recovery facilitated the attainment of new stable states by altering keystone taxa. Considering intestinal microbial community stability of shrimp, the recovery of microbial community through probiotic intervention appears to be more effective than natural recovery.