Gut Microbiomes of Rainbow Trout and Atlantic Salmon: Nutritional Modulation, Mucosal Immunity, and Resistome Risk
Abstract
) is increasingly recognized as a functional interface linking dietary inputs, epithelial barrier integrity, mucosal immunity, environmental stress, disease susceptibility, and antimicrobial-resistance risk in intensive aquaculture. Based on available salmonid studies and relevant evidence from broader fish and aquaculture systems, this review synthesizes current knowledge on salmonid gut microbial composition, nutritional modulation, microbiome-mucosal immune interactions, aquaculture stressors, antibiotic exposure, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs), metagenomics, multi-omics, and emerging microbiome-informed decision-support tools. Current evidence does not support a universally stable single-core microbiota in these species. Instead, community structure is shaped by developmental stage, freshwater-seawater transition, intestinal segment, digesta versus mucosa sampling, diet, temperature, stress, health status, and methodological workflow. Feed substitution and functional additives can remodel the gut microbiota, but these shifts should be interpreted alongside histology, barrier function, metabolic profiles, immune indicators, and disease-resistance phenotypes. Antibiotic exposure may reduce acute bacterial disease pressure while disturbing community structure and potentially enriching ARGs or ARG-MGE associations. Risk assessment should therefore move beyond ARG abundance toward host-ARG-MGE linkage using shotgun metagenomics, metagenome-assembled genomes, long-read sequencing, Hi-C, and externally validated multi-omics models. Machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches may support feature screening, risk stratification, and decision support, but their application in salmonid gut-health management remains at an early stage and requires external validation across sites, production stages, diets, and seasons.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
Gut microbiota and health
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Biology
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 1066–1066
- Publication date
- 3 July 2026
- Language
- EN