Microbiota and histology of healthy and skin ulceration diseased cultured sea cucumber Isostichopus badionotus Targeted loci environmental. Metagenome

The development of aquaculture of the sea cucumber I. badionotus in the Yucatan peninsula has been necessary to reduce the pressure on wild populations and to restore their densities, which have been drastically reduced by heavily intensive fishing and poaching. However, the emergence of diseases during culture, such as the skin ulceration syndrome (SUS), has limited its development. Here, we present for first time the intestine and skin microbiota characterization of healthy cultured I. badionotus and its variation in SUS-diseased juveniles through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, supported by histological evidence.