de Jager, Kristin, Brink-Hull, Marissa, Bolton, John J., Cyrus, Mark D., and Macey, Brett M. (2024) Bacterial microbiome dynamics in commercial integrated aquaculture systems growing Ulva in abalone effluent water. Journal of Applied Phycology, 36. pp. 2823-2849.

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Abstract

In South Africa, the green seaweed Ulva lacinulata is grown in land-based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) farms with the abalone Haliotis midae. The Ulva serves as a biofilter and the co-produced Ulva is often used as feed for the abalone. To better understand the potential benefits and risks associated with this practice, this study characterised the bacterial microbiome associated with the seawater and Ulva raceways receiving abalone effluent (IMTA system) and compared this to Ulva tanks supplied with fertilised seawater (non-IMTA; control). Ulva samples were collected from each Ulva system, and water samples were collected at the inlet and outlet of each system. Bacterial communities were assessed using a culture-based approach and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the V3-V4 16S rDNA region. It was observed that Ulva has the potential to reduce the bacterial load of abalone effluent, with the total number of potential culturable Vibrio species declining from 150×103 cells mL-1 in the inlet to 37×103 cells mL-1 in the outlet of the Ulva system. The NGS dataset supported these findings, with a reduction observed in Vibrio and Pseudoalteromonas from the inlet to outlet samples. A lower number of genera (p < 0.05) were observed on Ulva when compared with water samples, indicating that Ulva has a beneficial, modulatory effect on bacteria. These findings contribute towards the growing body of evidence for the benefits of seaweeds in IMTA and addresses the biosecurity concerns of abalone farmers wishing to improve the circularity of their farming activities by incorporating seaweeds.

Item ID:	85394
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1573-5176
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Date Deposited:	07 May 2025 03:52
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3005 Fisheries sciences > 300501 Aquaculture @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280101 Expanding knowledge in the agricultural, food and veterinary sciences @ 100%
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