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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Microbiome

Keystone microbial isozyme enhances crustacean growth by utilizing L-citrulline

  • Weichuan Lin1,2,3
  • Mingming Niu1
  • Ye Sun1
  • Wenkai Yu3,4
  • Ronghua Li1,2
  • Changkao Mu1,2
  • Chunlin Wang1,2
  • Limin Zhang3,4
  • Jizhong Zhou5,6
  • Yangfang Ye1,2
6 affiliations
  1. 1School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315832 China
  2. 2Key Laboratory of Aquacultural Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315832 China
  3. 3State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Imaging, Innovation Academy of Precision Measurement Science and Technology, National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan, 430071 China
  4. 4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
  5. 5Institute for Environmental Genomics, School of Biological Sciences and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 USA
  6. 6Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
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Abstract

Background: Under standardized rearing conditions, the genetically uniform “Keyong No. 1” swimming crab exhibits pronounced inter-individual variability in growth performance. While the gut microbiota is recognized contributors to crustacean growth, the specific microbes and mechanistic pathways that govern host growth are yet to be elucidated.

Results: By comparing gut bacterial communities in fast- and slow-growing swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus), we identified Roseovarius litoreus as a pivotal low-abundance keystone taxon enriched in fast growers, whose abundance positively correlated with host growth. Dietary supplementation with R. litoreus promoted growth in shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), selectively bred and wild-type crabs, restructuring gut microbial networks and increasing community metabolic capacity, particularly L-citrulline utilization. These growth benefits likely arise from the coordination of R. litoreus with resident microbes. Mechanistically, R. litoreus functions as a L-citrulline–utilizing commensal that enhances L-arginine biosynthesis through a microbial–host isozyme pair of argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) and argininosuccinate lyase. The microbiota-mediated conversion of L-citrulline to L-arginine stimulated muscle development through a MyoD-dependent pathway potentially governed by NO–sGC–PKG signaling. Inhibition of ASS suppressed growth, whereas R. litoreus supplementation restored this pathway. R. litoreus encodes a simpler yet more efficient ASS than the host enzyme, and deletion of its core ASS domain eliminated citrulline metabolism and the growth-promoting effect. Supplementation with wild-type R. litoreus rescued growth stunting by reestablishing microbial citrulline metabolism.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that ASS derived from keystone taxon R. litoreus enhances L-Cit utilization and promotes crustacean growth potentially through the L-Arg-mediated NO–sGC–PKG signaling. Targeting the gut-muscle axis via microbial keystone taxa may represent a promising probiotic strategy for growth promotion in crustaceans.

Video Abstract

Graphical Abstract:

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lin2026keystone,
  title = {{Keystone microbial isozyme enhances crustacean growth by utilizing L-citrulline}},
  author = {Weichuan Lin and Mingming Niu and Ye Sun and Wenkai Yu and Ronghua Li and Changkao Mu and Chunlin Wang and Limin Zhang and Jizhong Zhou and Yangfang Ye},
  journal = {Microbiome},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Keystone microbial isozyme enhances crustacean growth by utilizing L-citrulline
AU  - Weichuan Lin
AU  - Mingming Niu
AU  - Ye Sun
AU  - Wenkai Yu
AU  - Ronghua Li
AU  - Changkao Mu
AU  - Chunlin Wang
AU  - Limin Zhang
AU  - Jizhong Zhou
AU  - Yangfang Ye
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/11
JO  - Microbiome
DO  - 10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5
AB  - Background: Under standardized rearing conditions, the genetically uniform “Keyong No. 1” swimming crab exhibits pronounced inter-individual variability in growth performance. While the gut microbiota is recognized contributors to crustacean growth, the specific microbes and mechanistic pathways that govern host growth are yet to be elucidated.  Results: By comparing gut bacterial communities in fast- and slow-growing swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus), we identified Roseovarius litoreus as a pivotal low-abundance keystone taxon enriched in fast growers, whose abundance positively correlated with host growth. Dietary supplementation with R. litoreus promoted growth in shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), selectively bred and wild-type crabs, restructuring gut microbial networks and increasing community metabolic capacity, particularly L-citrulline utilization. These growth benefits likely arise from the coordination of R. litoreus with resident microbes. Mechanistically, R. litoreus functions as a L-citrulline–utilizing commensal that enhances L-arginine biosynthesis through a microbial–host isozyme pair of argininosuccinate synthase (ASS) and argininosuccinate lyase. The microbiota-mediated conversion of L-citrulline to L-arginine stimulated muscle development through a MyoD-dependent pathway potentially governed by NO–sGC–PKG signaling. Inhibition of ASS suppressed growth, whereas R. litoreus supplementation restored this pathway. R. litoreus encodes a simpler yet more efficient ASS than the host enzyme, and deletion of its core ASS domain eliminated citrulline metabolism and the growth-promoting effect. Supplementation with wild-type R. litoreus rescued growth stunting by reestablishing microbial citrulline metabolism.  Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that ASS derived from keystone taxon R. litoreus enhances L-Cit utilization and promotes crustacean growth potentially through the L-Arg-mediated NO–sGC–PKG signaling. Targeting the gut-muscle axis via microbial keystone taxa may represent a promising probiotic strategy for growth promotion in crustaceans.  Video Abstract  Graphical Abstract:  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-02496-5.
SN  - 2049-2618
ER  -