Fig. 1

Pathological features of healthy, diseased, and moribund Penaeus vannamei. A Gross signs. B Cross-sectional histological micrographs of hepatopancreas after hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining. Scale bar: 50μm. C Growth of Vibrio on thiosulfate–citrate–bile salts–sucrose (TCBS) agar selective culture plates. Green colonies: Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio fluvialis; yellow colonies: other Vibrio strains (i.e., Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio harveyi, and Vibrio anguillarum). D Quantified bacteria colonies (n=3). PCR-based quantification of the 16S rRNA gene in shrimp hepatopancreas. E Total bacterial abundance, F Vibrio abundance, G V. harveyi (vhh), H V. parahaemolyticus (tdh), and I V. parahaemolyticus (pirB). Results were reported as mean ± S.E.M (n = 3). ns, not significant, *p<0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001