Oyster-Associated Microbiota

Oysters are important mariculture species worldwide. Because of their filter-feeding behaviors,
oysters contain complicated microbial populations, and these varying microbial populations can
provide a correlation to increased oyster mortalities in the oyster farming industry as well as food
outbreaks associated with public health surveillance. This review summarizes the significant
outcomes in oyster microbiota research, including the identified oyster-associated bacterial taxa and
comparison of different oyster tissues for microbial studies. In addition, environmental factors that
could potentially affect the dynamics of oyster microbiota are discussed. Recent approaches
developed to study oyster microbiota as well as their limitations are also highlighted in this review.
Finally, future directions in oyster microbiota research have been suggested. In conclusion, microbiota
from different oyster species have been analyzed in recent studies and several major microbial taxa
have been identified. Different oyster tissues may contain diverse microbial contents, which may be
suitable for various applications. Oyster microbiota could change due to different growing stages and
environmental conditions. New emerging genomic analytical technologies have provided more
accurate solutions for analyzing an ever-changing oyster microbiota.