Bacterial dynamics within the mucus, tissue and skeleton of the coral Porites lutea during different seasons

Li, Jie; Chen, Qi; Long, Lijuan; Dong, Junde; Yang, Jian; Zhang, Si

doi:10.1038/srep07320

Cited by 125 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

111

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar to previous observations in other corals (Bayer et al., ; Blackall, Wilson, & van Oppen, ; Bourne et al., ; Li et al., ; Littman et al., ), the majority of the identified OTUs in A. digitifera belong to the Proteobacteria phylum and is dominated by the Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria classes (Figure S3). The Gammaproteobacteria make up 13% of the community in coral tissue, 45% in mucus, and 21% in seawater.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

Resilience of the prokaryotic microbial community of Acropora digitifera to elevated temperature

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The coral is a holobiont formed by the close interaction between the coral animal and a diverse community of microorganisms, including dinoflagellates, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses. The prokaryotic symbionts of corals are important for host fitness but are also highly sensitive to changes in the environment. In this study, we used 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequencing to examine the response of the microbial community associated with the coral, Acropora digitifera, to elevated temperature. The A. digitifera microbial community is dominated by operational taxonomic unit (OTUs) affiliated with classes Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. The prokaryotic community in the coral tissue is distinct from that of the mucus and the surrounding seawater. Remarkably, the overall microbial community structure of A. digitifera remained stable for 10 days of continuous exptosure at 32°C compared to corals maintained at 27°C. However, the elevated temperature regime resulted in a decrease in the abundance of OTUs affiliated with certain groups of bacteria, such as order Rhodobacterales. On the other hand, some OTUs affiliated with the orders Alteromonadales, Vibrionales, and Flavobacteriales, which are often associated with diseased and stressed corals, increased in abundance. Thus, while the A. digitifera bacterial community structure appears resilient to higher temperature, prolonged exposure and intensified stress results in changes in the abundance of specific microbial community members that may affect the overall metabolic state and health of the coral holobiont.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

Resilience of the prokaryotic microbial community of Acropora digitifera to elevated temperature

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Corals harbour a particular microbiome in their skeletons2930. Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were the predominant prokaryotic members, in agreement with some metabarcoding studies of coral skeletons3034.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Multi-marker metabarcoding of coral skeletons reveals a rich microbiome and diverse evolutionary origins of endolithic algae

Marcelino

Verbruggen

2016

Sci Rep

111

141

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacteria, fungi and green algae are common inhabitants of coral skeletons. Their diversity is poorly characterized because they are difficult to identify with microscopy or environmental sequencing, as common metabarcoding markers have low phylogenetic resolution and miss a large portion of the biodiversity. We used a cost-effective protocol and a combination of markers (tufA, 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA and 23S rDNA) to characterize the microbiome of 132 coral skeleton samples. We identified a wide range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, many never reported in corals before. We additionally investigated the phylogenetic diversity of the green algae—the most abundant eukaryotic member of this community, for which previous literature recognizes only a handful of endolithic species. We found more than 120 taxonomic units (near species level), including six family-level lineages mostly new to science. The results suggest that the existence of lineages with an endolithic lifestyle predates the existence of modern scleractinian corals by ca. 250my, and that this particular niche was independently invaded by over 20 lineages in green algae evolution. These results highlight the potential of the multi-marker approach to assist in species discovery and, when combined with a phylogenetic framework, clarify the evolutionary origins of host-microbiota associations.

show abstract

“…Two members of the genus, Prosthecochloris indica and Prosthecochloris aestuarii , were isolated from a marine aquaculture pond (Kumar et al ) and coastal habitats (Imhoff ), respectively. In addition, this genus was also coral‐associated: OTUs belonging to Prosthecochloris were identified in the coral Porites lutea (Li et al ). Similarly, in this study, the space beneath the living tissue in coral skeleton of I. palifera hosted Prosthecochloris , presumably reflecting an anaerobic environment with sufficient light exposure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of potential nitrogen‐fixing, green sulfur bacteria in the skeleton of reef‐building coral Isopora palifera

Yang

Lee

Huang

et al. 2016

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbial endoliths, which inhabit interior pores of rocks, skeletons and coral, are ubiquitous in terrestrial and marine environments. In this study, various colored layers stratified the endolithic environment within the skeleton of Isopora palifera; however, there was a distinct green‐pigmented layer in the skeleton (beneath the living coral tissue). To characterize diversity of endolithic microorganisms, 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing was used to investigate bacterial communities in the green layer of eight I. palifera coral colonies retrieved from two locations on Green Island, Taiwan. The dominant bacterial group in the green layer belonged to the bacterial phylum Chlorobi, green sulfur bacteria capable of anoxygenic photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Specifically, bacteria of the genus Prosthecochloris were dominant in this green layer. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide a detailed profile of endolithic bacteria in coral and to determine the prevalence of Prosthecochloris in the green layer. Based on our findings, we infer that these bacteria may have an important functional role in the coral holobiont in the nutrient‐limited coral reef ecosystem.

show abstract

Bacterial dynamics within the mucus, tissue and skeleton of the coral Porites lutea during different seasons

Cited by 125 publications

References 45 publications

Resilience of the prokaryotic microbial community of Acropora digitifera to elevated temperature

Resilience of the prokaryotic microbial community of Acropora digitifera to elevated temperature

Multi-marker metabarcoding of coral skeletons reveals a rich microbiome and diverse evolutionary origins of endolithic algae

Prevalence of potential nitrogen‐fixing, green sulfur bacteria in the skeleton of reef‐building coral Isopora palifera

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About