Planococcus maritimus ML1206 Isolated from Wild Oysters Enhances the Survival of Caenorhabditis elegans against Vibrio anguillarum

Abstract

With the widespread occurrence of aquaculture diseases and the broad application of antibiotics, drug-resistant pathogens have increasingly affected aquatic animals’ health. Marine probiotics, which live under high pressure in a saltwater environment, show high potential as a substitute for antibiotics in the field of aquatic disease control. In this study, twenty strains of non-hemolytic bacteria were isolated from the intestine of wild oysters and perch, and a model of Caenorhabditis elegans infected by Vibrio anguillarum was established. Based on the model, ML1206, which showed a 99% similarity of 16S rRNA sequence to Planococcus maritimus, was selected as a potential marine probiotic, with strong antibacterial capabilities and great acid and bile salt tolerance, to protect Caenorhabditis elegans from being damaged by Vibrio anguillarum. Combined with plate counting and transmission electron microscopy, it was found that strain ML1206 could significantly inhibit Vibrio anguillarum colonization in the intestinal tract of Caenorhabditis elegans. Acute oral toxicity tests in mice showed that ML1206 was safe and non-toxic. The real-time qPCR results showed a higher expression level of genes related to the antibacterial peptide (ilys-3) and detoxification (ugt-22, cyp-35A3, and cyp-14A3) in the group of Caenorhabditis elegans protected by ML1206 compared to the control group. It is speculated that ML1206, as a potential probiotic, may inhibit the infection caused by Vibrio anguillarum through stimulating Caenorhabditis elegans to secrete antibacterial effectors and detoxification proteins. This paper provides a new direction for screening marine probiotics and an experimental basis to support the potential application of ML1206 as a marine probiotic in aquaculture.