Microplastics exposure and deprivation reveal resilience of koi carp gut microbiota but a negative carryover effect on growth

The effects of microplastics on aquatic animals have caused of concern due to the wide distribution. However, the ability of fish for recovery after microplastics exposure received little attention. Here, to investigate the effects of microplastics exposure and the water recovery after exposure on Koi carp, fish were exposed to different concentrations of microplastics for a month and then transferred to rearing water for recovery for a month. The community structure and function of intestinal microbiota of fish were determined by using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.