Marine Science Faculty Publications
Spatial Heterogeneity of Bacterial Communities in the Mucus of Montastraea annularis
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
Community profiling, ARISA, Bacteria, Coral, Spatial heterogeneity, Vibrio
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09024
Abstract
Corals are known to contain a diverse microbiota; however, few studies have explicitly addressed the spatial variability of bacterial communities across individual, healthy coral colonies. This study applied culture-based and culture-independent methods to examine the spatial heterogeneity in bacterial communities in the mucus of 3 healthy Montastraea annularis colonies from Looe Key Reef, Florida Keys. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) results showed significant variability (up to 61% dissimilarity) in the composition of the total bacterial community at different locations only centimeters apart on individual coral colonies. Abundances of culturable Vibrio spp. determined by TCBS plating were highly variable across individual coral colonies, differing by up to 100-fold between different locations on the same colony. ARISA profiles indicated that intracolony variation rivaled intercolony differences in the composition of the culturable Vibrio community (i.e. types of culturable Vibrio spp. and their relative abundances). The high degree of spatial heterogeneity in coral-associated bacteria observed across individual colonies has implications for coral microbiology studies and coral restoration projects.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Marine Ecology Progress Series, v. 426, p. 29-40
Scholar Commons Citation
Daniels, Camille; Zeifman, Amy; Heym, Kathy; Ritchie, Kim; Watson, Craig; Berzins, Ilze; and Breitbart, Mya, "Spatial Heterogeneity of Bacterial Communities in the Mucus of Montastraea annularis" (2011). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 746.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/746
