Comparative analysis of cutaneous bacterial communities of farmed Rana dybowskii after gentamycin bath

Introduction: Pathogenic bacteria limit the success of Rana dybowskii breeding. Gentamicin is used to treat R. dybowskii disease. To understand the effects of gentamicin on the composition and structure of the cutaneous bacterial community of R. dybowskii, three groups (control, gentamicin and recovery) were established in this study. Materials & Methods: The V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene was analyzed in samples by high-throughput sequencing. Alpha diversity and beta diversity were evaluated to compare the cutaneous bacterial community diversity. Results: A total of 1,159,668 valid sequences and 3,132 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from these three experimental groups. The number of OTUs obtained in the control group, gentamicin group and recovery group were 2,194, 2,288, and 2,047, respectively, and the number of shared OTUs was 1,313. The alpha diversity of the cutaneous bacterial community was not significantly affected by gentamicin, while beta diversity was significantly affected. Discussion & Conclusions: The effect of a gentamicin bath on relative species abundance was greater than the effect on the species composition. The changes in Proteobacteria, Acinetobacter, and Chryseobacterium were significant, and reductions were observed after the recovery period. Six potentially pathogenic genera were detected, including Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Chryseobacterium, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus. Among them, Aeromonas and Chryseobacterium were significantly inhibited by the gentamicin bath. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the application of gentamicin in R. dybowskii breeding.