Antagonistic interactions among coral‐associated bacteria
- 29 December 2009
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Environmental Microbiology
- Vol. 12 (1), 28-39
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.02027.x
Abstract
Reef-building corals are comprised of close associations between the coral animal, symbiotic zooxanthellae, and a diversity of associated microbes (including Bacteria, Archaea and Fungi). Together, these comprise the coral holobiont - a paradigm that emphasizes the potential contributions of each component to the overall function and health of the coral. Little is known about the ecology of the coral-associated microbial community and its hypothesized role in coral health. We explored bacteria-bacteria antagonism among 67 bacterial isolates from the scleractinian coral Montastrea annularis at two temperatures using Burkholder agar diffusion assays. A majority of isolates exhibited inhibitory activity (69.6% of isolates at 25 degrees C, 52.2% at 31 degrees C), with members of the gamma-proteobacteria (Vibrionales and Alteromonadales) being especially antagonistic. Elevated temperatures generally reduced levels of antagonism, although the effects were complex. Several potential pathogens were observed in the microbial community of apparently healthy corals, and 11.6% of isolates were able to inhibit the growth of the coral pathogen Vibrio shiloi at 25 degrees C. Overall, this study demonstrates that antagonism could be a structuring force in coral-associated microbial communities and may contribute to pathogenesis as well as disease resistance.Keywords
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and diseaseNature Reviews Immunology, 2009
- Antimicrobial properties of resident coral mucus bacteria ofOculina patagonicaFEMS Microbiology Letters, 2009
- The Ribosomal Database Project: improved alignments and new tools for rRNA analysisNucleic Acids Research, 2008
- Coral mucus-associated bacterial communities from natural and aquarium environmentsFEMS Microbiology Letters, 2007
- Antagonistic Interactions among Marine Bacteria Impede the Proliferation of Vibrio choleraeApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2005
- Competitive Induction and Enhancement of Indole and a Diketopiperazine in Marine BacteriaMarine Biotechnology, 2004
- Antagonistic activity of bacteria isolated from organic aggregates of the German Wadden SeaFEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2004
- Coral-associated ArchaeaMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2004
- Bacterial community composition during two consecutive NE Monsoon periods in the Arabian Sea studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of rRNA genesDeep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 1999
- Basic local alignment search toolJournal of Molecular Biology, 1990