A River’s Microbiome May Protect Wild Salmon Against Malnutrition

Chinook salmon may be canaries in the coal mine by revealing that widespread thiamine deficiency could be quietly chiseling away at fish, bird, and wildlife populations across the northern hemisphere

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Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are the largest and most valuable salmon in the world. CC0 Public Domain

Thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, is an essential dietary cofactor that is critical to proper cellular function in all living beings, playing a pivotal role in converting food into energy. Without enough thiamine, cellular-level functioning begins to fail. Affected animals behave abnormally, suffer immunosuppression, neurological and reproductive disorders, and can eventually die. Thiamine deficiency disorders can potentially reduce populations of affected species.

Thiamine deficiency complex (TDC) is known to affect Atlantic salmon in the Baltic Sea. But now, Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley are also showing signs of TDC. Symptoms of TDC in salmonids are first noticeable between hatching and before their first feeding, and include abnormal swimming patterns and high mortality rates.

Disturbingly, salmon are not the only wild animals that are developing TDC, although they are among the most economically important. TDC is apparently increasing throughout marine ecosystems around the…