Structure and functionality of the skin microbiota in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) under various immune status

In metazoans, the epidermal surface is important to maintain homeostasis
of individuals. These epidermis, whether at the level of the skin or the
digestive tract, are colonized by bacteria that have co-evolved with the host
and that form communities with a complex network of interactions, the
microbiota. Communication between these two actors was made possible
by developing a suitable immune system (innate and acquired). Given the
essential role of this microbiota at many levels (cellular and physiological), it
is necessary for the host to maintain the homeostasis within microbiota and
between the microbiota and its host is proving crucial. However, this
homeostasis can be disrupted by various kinds of stress present in the
organisms' environment. For this project, we propose to study the resident
bacterial community in the mucus of skin in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
mykiss) and the relationship that exists between this microbiota and
immune system at the skin under stressful conditions (cognitive stress vs
non-cognitive stress). Fish, in this case the rainbow trout, seem to be a
good model to study the skin mucus microbiota but also to study the
relationship that exists between microbiota and the immune system skin. In
addition, we will also highlight modifications of the bacterial community
during immune system ontogeny, i-e during the early stages of development
when acquired immunity is not developed yet until its complete
development.