Antibacterial Mechanism of Chitosan–Gentamicin and Its Effect on the Intestinal Flora of Litopenaeus vannamei Infected with Vibrio parahaemolyticus

To explore the application of chitosan–gentamicin conjugate (CS-GT) in inhibitingVibrio parahaemolyticus(V. parahaemolyticus), which is an important pathogen in aquatic animals worldwide, the antimicrobial activity of CS-GT and the effects of a CS-GT dose on the intestine histopathology and intestinal flora ofV. parahaemolyticus-infected shrimps were explored. The results showed that CS-GT possessed broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and half inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 20.00 ± 0.01, 75.00 ± 0.02 and 18.72 ± 3.17 μg/mL forV. parahaemolyticus, respectively. Further scanning electron microscope and cell membrane damage analyses displayed that the electrostatic interaction of CS-GT with cell membrane strengthened after CS grafted GT, resulting in leakage of nucleic acid and electrolytes ofV. parahaemolyticus. On the other hand, histopathology investigation indicated that high (100 mg/kg) and medium (50 mg/kg) doses of CS-GT could alleviate the injury of a shrimp’s intestine caused byV. parahaemolyticus. Further 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis found high and medium dose of CS-GT could effectively inhabitV. parahaemolyticusinvasion and reduce intestinal dysfunction. In conclusion, CS-GT possesses good antibacterial activity and could protect shrimps from pathogenic bacteria infection.Keywords:chitosan;Vibrio parahaemolyticus;antimicrobial mechanism;intestine microbe