Phenotype-Specific Bacterial Communities in the Cold-Water Coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia) and Their Implications for the Coral's Nutrition, Health, and Distribution
- 1 December 2008
- journal article
- Published by American Society for Microbiology in Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Vol. 74 (23), 7272-7285
- https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01777-08
Abstract
The pseudocolonial coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia, Caryophylliidae) is a eurybathic, stenothermal cosmopolitan cold-water species. It occurs in two color varieties, white and red. L. pertusa builds vast cold-water coral reefs along the continental margins, which are among the most diverse deep-sea habitats. Microbiology of L. pertusa has been in scientific focus for only a few years, but the question of whether the coral holds a host-specific bacterial community has not been finally answered. Bacteria on coral samples from the Trondheimsfjord (Norway) were characterized by the culture-independent 16S rRNA gene-based techniques terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analysis. L. pertusa revealed a high microbial richness. Clone sequences were dominated by members of the Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria. Other abundant taxa were Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Firmicutes, and Planctomycetes. The bacterial community of L. pertusa not only differed conspicuously from that of the environment but also varied with both the location and color variety of its host. Therefore, the microbial colonization cannot be termed "specific" sensu stricto. However, similarities to other coral-bacterium associations suggest the existence of "cold-water coral-specific" bacterial groups sensu lato. L. pertusa-associated bacteria appear to play a significant role in the nutrition of their host by degradation of sulfur compounds, cellulose, chitin, and end products of the coral's anaerobic metabolism. Some coral-associated microbes were regarded as opportunistic pathogens. Dominance of mixotrophic members of the Rhodobacteraceae in white L. pertusa could explain the wider dispersal of this phenotype by supplementary nutrition.Keywords
This publication has 68 references indexed in Scilit:
- Microbial Ecology of Four Coral Atolls in the Northern Line IslandsPLOS ONE, 2008
- The ribosomal database project (RDP-II): introducing myRDP space and quality controlled public dataNucleic Acids Research, 2006
- Bacteria Associated with Mucus and Tissues of the Coral Oculina patagonica in Summer and WinterApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2006
- Anthropogenic ocean acidification over the twenty-first century and its impact on calcifying organismsNature, 2005
- Isolation and Characterization of Mycoplasma sphenisci sp. nov. from the Choana of an Aquarium-Reared Jackass Penguin ( Spheniscus demersus )Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2005
- Radiocarbon‐based ages and growth rates of bamboo corals from the Gulf of AlaskaGeophysical Research Letters, 2005
- Non‐parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structureAustralian Journal of Ecology, 1993
- Basic local alignment search toolJournal of Molecular Biology, 1990
- Physical oceanography of the TrondheimsfjordGeophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, 1983
- Gene organization and primary structure of a ribosomal RNA operon from Escherichia coliJournal of Molecular Biology, 1981