Major similarities in the bacterial communities associated with lesioned and healthy Fungiidae corals. (21st March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Apprill, Amy; Hughen, Konrad; Mincer, Tracy
• Is Part Of: Environmental microbiology. Volume 15:Number 7(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 2063
• Page End: 2072
• Publication Date: 2013-03-21
• Subjects: Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Environmental Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.12107
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-2912

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Cultivation‐based studies have demonstrated that yellow‐band disease (YBD), a lesion‐producing ailment affecting diverse species of coral, is caused by a consortium of <italic>Vibrio</italic> spp. This study takes the first cultivation‐independent approach to examine the whole bacterial community associated with YBD‐like lesioned corals. Two species of Fungiidae corals, <italic>Ctenactis crassa</italic> and <italic>Herpolitha limax</italic>, displaying YBD‐like lesions were examined across diverse reefs throughout the Red Sea. Using a pyrosequencing approach targeting the V1–V3 regions of the SSU rRNA gene, no major differences in bacterial community composition or diversity were identified between healthy and lesioned corals of either species. Indicator species analysis did not find <italic>Vibrio</italic> significantly associated with the lesioned corals. However, operational taxonomic units belonging to the <italic>Ruegeria</italic> genus of <italic>Alphaproteobacteria</italic> and NS9 marine group of <italic>Flavobacteria</italic> were significantly associated with the lesioned corals. The most striking trend of this dataset was that reef location was found to be the most significant influence on the coral–bacterial community. It is possible that more pronounced lesion‐specific bacterial signatures might have been concealed by the strong influence of environmental conditions on coral–bacteria. Overall, this study demonstrates inconsistencies between cultivation‐independent and cultivation‐based studies regarding the role of specific bacteria in coral diseases.</p> </abstract>