External authors:

• Marcos Godoy ( Universidad San Sebastian , Ctr Invest Biol Aplicadas CIBA )
• Yoandy Coca ( Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile )
• Rudy Suarez ( Universidad Catolica del Norte )
• Marco Montes de Oca ( Ctr Invest Biol Aplicadas CIBA )
• Jacob W. Bledsoe ( University of Idaho )
• Ian Burbulis ( Universidad San Sebastian )
• Diego Caro ( Ctr Invest Biol Aplicadas CIBA )
• Juan Pablo Pontigo ( Universidad San Sebastian )
• Vinicius Maracaja-Coutinho ( Universidad de Chile , Beagle Bioinformat )
• Raul Arias-Carrasco ( Universidad Tecnologica Metropolitana )
• Leonardo Rodriguez-Cordova ( Universidad Santo Tomas )

Abstract:

Maintaining the high overall health of farmed animals is a central tenant of their well-being and care. Intense animal crowding in aquaculture promotes animal morbidity especially in the absence of straightforward methods for monitoring their health. Here, we used bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to measure bacterial population dynamics during P. salmonis infection. We observed a complex bacterial community consisting of a previously undescribed core pathobiome. Notably, we detected Aliivibrio wodanis and Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi on the skin ulcers of salmon infected with P. salmonis, while Vibrio spp. were enriched on infected gills. The prevalence of these co-occurring networks indicated that coinfection with other pathogens may enhance P. salmonis pathogenicity.