Metagenomic Insights on the Progression of White Muscle Disease in Kuruma Shrimp (Penaeus japonicus) Caused by Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae

Garner Algo Langote Alolod; John Paul Matthew Domingo Guzman; Ma Ramela Angela Bermeo-Capunong; Kayo Konishi; Keiichiro Koiwai; Hidehiro Kondo; Ikuo Hirono

doi:10.1111/jfd.70117

Metagenomic Insights on the Progression of White Muscle Disease in Kuruma Shrimp (Penaeus japonicus) Caused by Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae

J Fish Dis. 2026 Jan 11:e70117. doi: 10.1111/jfd.70117. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Garner Algo Langote Alolod^{1

2}, John Paul Matthew Domingo Guzman^{1

3}, Ma Ramela Angela Bermeo-Capunong^{1

4}, Kayo Konishi¹, Keiichiro Koiwai¹, Hidehiro Kondo¹, Ikuo Hirono¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Genome Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
² College of Fisheries, University of Antique-Tario Lim Memorial Campus, Tibiao, Antique, Philippines.
³ Department of Science and Technology, Environment and Biotechnology Division, Industrial Technology Development Institute, Taguig City, Philippines.
⁴ Division of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines.

PMID: 41521588
DOI: 10.1111/jfd.70117

Abstract

Kuruma shrimp (Penaeus japonicus) is an economically important shrimp perennially affected by diseases. In 2022, White Muscle Disease (WMD) was first characterised in this Penaeid species, caused by Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (Pdd). In this study, muscular and gut microbiome dynamics and their function in the disease progression are investigated by 16S rRNA metagenome sequencing using Illumina sequencing technologies. Alpha diversity indices showed that Pdd infection in the muscle, stomach, and intestine did not significantly change bacterial diversity between control and infected groups at all time points observed (Days 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10). In the infected samples, the Shannon and Simpson indices increased starting Day 5 (D5), in congruence with the first observation of muscle whitening. Bacterial composition for the infected group at the genus level revealed that Photobacterium and Vibrio have increased their relative abundance in the muscle at Day 5 (D5) until Day 7 (D7), but declined at Day 10 (D10). As for stomach samples, Photobacterium declined in abundance and later increased significantly at Day 7 (D7). Photobacterium in the intestinal samples from the infected group increased at Day 5 (D5) but later decreased at Day 7 (D7). Meanwhile, linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) identified that most taxa belong to phylum Pseudomonadota, which can be potential markers for WMD. Moreover, the temporal dynamics of the amplicon sequencing variant ASV2, confirmed to be 100% homologous to the WMD-P3 strain used in this study, were characterised. For all tissues, the logarithmic relative abundance is considered high and very apparent in infected samples collected at Day 7 (D7). Overall, our study provides an understanding of the muscle and gut microbial community, specifically at the genus level, distinguished between WMD-infected and healthy Kuruma shrimps.

Keywords: Penaeus japonicus; 16S rRNA; Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae; metagenome; white muscle disease.

Abstract

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