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Epizoic Communities of Prokaryotes on Healthy and Diseased Scleractinian Corals in Lingayen Gulf, Philippines

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Abstract

In search for microbiological indicators of coral health and coral diseases, community profiles of coral-associated epizoic prokaryotes were investigated because of their dual potential as a source of coral pathogens and their antagonists. In pairwise samples of visually healthy and diseased coral specimens from Bolinao Bay (Pangasinan, Philippines), mixed biofilm communities of ectoderm- and mucus-colonizing epizoic prokaryotes were compared using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Oligonucleotide probes targeted 13 phylotypes representing the main taxonomic groups of marine prokaryotes. Coral taxa tended to show specific community profiles. An attempt to separate the profiles of healthy and diseased specimens by applying principal component analysis (PCA) to a (nonselective) collection of corals (affected by various diseases) proved unsuccessful. On the other hand, separate PCA clusters were obtained from healthy and diseased corals belonging to a single species (Pocillopora damicornis) only. This cluster formation was dominated by principal component 1 with the genus Vibrio accounting for 18%. At the same time, reef-site-specific clusters were formed as well. At a reef site exposed to pollution from intensive fish cage (Chanos chanos) farming, healthy P. damicornis were mainly (93%) colonized by unicellular cyanobacteria. The formal calculation of diversity parameters suggested that evenness in particular was driven by both health status and reef site location. Despite the low resolution of taxonomic levels achieved with FISH probes targeting only large phylotype groups, significant differences between healthy and diseased corals and also between polluted and nonpolluted reef sites were observed.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank H.P. Grossart for an introduction to the FISH technique and H Dries for her help in collecting samples from corals in situ. This investigation was supported by a Center of Excellence grant to W.R. in the framework of an international GEF/World Bank funded Coral Reef Project, as well as support from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to W.R. and H.P.G.

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  1. Bolinao Marine Laboratory, Marine Science Institute, University the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines

    Mark Arboleda & Wolfgang Reichardt

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  1. Mark Arboleda
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  2. Wolfgang Reichardt
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Correspondence to Mark Arboleda.

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Arboleda, M., Reichardt, W. Epizoic Communities of Prokaryotes on Healthy and Diseased Scleractinian Corals in Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. Microb Ecol 57, 117–128 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-008-9400-0

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