Defining the Core Microbiome in Corals’ Microbial Soup

Hernández‐Agreda, Alejandra; Gates, Ruth D.; Ainsworth, Tracy D.

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2016.11.003

Cited by 264 publications

(256 citation statements)

References 131 publications

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“…Similarly, in acroporid coral Acropora granulosa , only two (out of 159 phylotypes detected within at least 30% of samples) were found to have higher than 5% relative abundance within their bacterial-associated communities 60 . These findings highlight the need for caution when determining bacterial associates as core members of the microbiome based solely on a high relative abundance within the host’s whole community 60, 69 . Interestingly, while Littman et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

High resolution profiling of coral-associated bacterial communities using full-length 16S rRNA sequence data from PacBio SMRT sequencing system

Pootakham

Mhuantong

Yoocha

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

106

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Coral reefs are a complex ecosystem consisting of coral animals and a vast array of associated symbionts including the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium, fungi, viruses and bacteria. Several studies have highlighted the importance of coral-associated bacteria and their fundamental roles in fitness and survival of the host animal. The scleractinian coral Porites lutea is one of the dominant reef-builders in the Indo-West Pacific. Currently, very little is known about the composition and structure of bacterial communities across P. lutea reefs. The purpose of this study is twofold: to demonstrate the advantages of using PacBio circular consensus sequencing technology in microbial community studies and to investigate the diversity and structure of P. lutea-associated microbiome in the Indo-Pacific. This is the first metagenomic study of marine environmental samples that utilises the PacBio sequencing system to capture full-length 16S rRNA sequences. We observed geographically distinct coral-associated microbial profiles between samples from the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. Despite the geographical and environmental impacts on the coral-host interactions, we identified a conserved community of bacteria that were present consistently across diverse reef habitats. Finally, we demonstrated the superior performance of full-length 16S rRNA sequences in resolving taxonomic uncertainty of coral associates at the species level.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

High resolution profiling of coral-associated bacterial communities using full-length 16S rRNA sequence data from PacBio SMRT sequencing system

Pootakham

Mhuantong

Yoocha

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the present study, the long and complete observation in Kenting successfully captured compositional resilience that was not apparent in short-term surveys. A small group of bacteria (that comprised the core microbiome) were ubiquitously associated with coral, regardless of abiotic environmental parameters (Hernandez-Agreda et al, 2016). However, based on our results, prolonged observation enabled characterizing their succession in coral (Lynch and Neufeld, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, bacterial succession in corals has not been well characterized, as the longest monitoring survey lasted only 1 year (Rohwer et al, 2002; Hong et al, 2009; Ceh et al, 2011; Carlos et al, 2013; Lema et al, 2014; Hernandez-Agreda et al, 2016). Furthermore, although some microbes were consistently detected in coral (Rohwer et al, 2002; Carlos et al, 2013), it is still unknown whether these common microbes change their abundance over longer intervals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Survey Is Necessary to Reveal Various Shifts of Microbial Composition in Corals

et al. 2017

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The coral holobiont is the assemblage of coral host and its microbial symbionts, which functions as a unit and is responsive to host species and environmental factors. Although monitoring surveys have been done to determine bacteria associated with coral, none have persisted for >1 year. Therefore, potential variations in minor or dominant community members that occur over extended intervals have not been characterized. In this study, 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing was used to investigate the relationship between bacterial communities in healthy Stylophora pistillata in tropical and subtropical Taiwan over 2 years, apparently one of the longest surveys of coral-associated microbes. Dominant bacterial genera in S. pistillata had disparate changes in different geographical setups, whereas the constitution of minor bacteria fluctuated in abundance over time. We concluded that dominant bacteria (Acinetobacter, Propionibacterium, and Pseudomonas) were stable in composition, regardless of seasonal and geographical variations, whereas Endozoicomonas had a geographical preference. In addition, by combining current data with previous studies, we concluded that a minor bacteria symbiont, Ralstonia, was a keystone species in coral. Finally, we concluded that long-term surveys for coral microbial communities were necessary to detect compositional shifts, especially for minor bacterial members in corals.

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“…Bacteria have been well-documented to contribute to the health of other marine organisms and ecosystems, and metabarcoding approaches have begun to chart the diverse community of bacteria associated with reef corals (Ritchie, 2006;Rosenberg et al, 2007;Lema et al, 2012;Ainsworth et al, 2015;Hernandez-Agreda et al, 2017). Yet, the relative role of the microbiome in thermal tolerance remains largely unknown.…”

Section: The Microbiomementioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of Thermal Tolerance in Reef-Building Corals across a Fine-Grained Environmental Mosaic: Lessons from Ofu, American Samoa

et al. 2018

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Environmental heterogeneity gives rise to phenotypic variation through a combination of phenotypic plasticity and fixed genetic effects. For reef-building corals, understanding the relative roles of acclimatization and adaptation in generating thermal tolerance is fundamental to predicting the response of coral populations to future climate change. The temperature mosaic in the lagoon of Ofu, American Samoa, represents an ideal natural laboratory for studying thermal tolerance in corals. Two adjacent back-reef pools approximately 500 m apart have different temperature profiles: the highly variable (HV) pool experiences temperatures that range from 24.5 to 35 • C, whereas the moderately variable (MV) pool ranges from 25 to 32 • C. Standardized heat stress tests have shown that corals native to the HV pool have consistently higher levels of bleaching resistance than those in the MV pool. In this review, we summarize research into the mechanisms underlying this variation in bleaching resistance, focusing on the important reef-building genus Acropora. Both acclimatization and adaptation occur strongly and define thermal tolerance differences between pools. Most individual corals shift physiology to become more heat resistant when moved into the warmer pool. Lab based tests show that these shifts begin in as little as a week and are equally sparked by exposure to periodic high temperatures as constant high temperatures. Transcriptome-wide data on gene expression show that a wide variety of genes are co-regulated in expression modules that change expression after experimental heat stress, after acclimatization, and even after short term environmental fluctuations. Population genetic scans show associations between a corals' thermal environment and its alleles at 100s to 1000s of nuclear genes and no single gene confers strong environmental effects within or between species. Symbionts also tend to differ between pools and species, and the thermal tolerance of a coral is a reflection of individual host genotype and specific symbiont types. We conclude the review by placing this work in the context of parallel research going on in other species, reefs, and ecosystems around the world and into the broader framework of reef coral resilience in the face of climate change.

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Defining the Core Microbiome in Corals’ Microbial Soup

Cited by 264 publications

References 131 publications

High resolution profiling of coral-associated bacterial communities using full-length 16S rRNA sequence data from PacBio SMRT sequencing system

High resolution profiling of coral-associated bacterial communities using full-length 16S rRNA sequence data from PacBio SMRT sequencing system

Long-Term Survey Is Necessary to Reveal Various Shifts of Microbial Composition in Corals

Mechanisms of Thermal Tolerance in Reef-Building Corals across a Fine-Grained Environmental Mosaic: Lessons from Ofu, American Samoa

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