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Diversity of the Bacterial Communities Associated with the Azooxanthellate Deep Water Octocorals Leptogorgia minimata, Iciligorgia schrammi, and Swiftia exertia

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Abstract

This study examined the microbiota associated with the marine azooxanthellate octocorals Leptogorgia minimata, Swiftia exertia, and Iciligorgia schrammi collected from moderate depths (45 m). Traditional aerobic plate culture, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and molecular identification of the 16S rDNA region were used for this purpose. In general, cultures were found to be selective for Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes. Interestingly, FISH counts for Firmicutes in the whole coral (holobiont) were near the detection limit of this assay, representing less than 6% of the total detectable microbiota in all counts. Proteobacteria, especially Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria, made up the majority of the total microbiota in the holobionts. In addition, the absence of zooxanthellae in these three corals was confirmed by the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dinoflagellate-specific primers, and spectrophotometric chlorophyll pigment measurements. No evidence of zooxanthellae could be found in any of the corals by either of these techniques. This is the first study examining the microbiota marine octocorals, which grow at moderate depth (40 to 100 m) in the absence of direct sunlight.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology, the American Cancer Society RSG-97-170-04-CDD, Florida Sea Grant R/LR-MB-14, and the National Science Foundation grant 0119011. This research is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under a grant awarded in 2003 to L.Z. Santiago-Vázquez (award 0310283). Wolfram Brück was funded through a postdoctoral fellowship from the Link Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, or Florida Sea Grant. The experiments complied with the current laws of the United States. This is contribution number P200703 from the Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology and HBOI contribution number 1655.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA

    Thomas B. Brück, Lory Z. Santiago-Vázquez & Russell G. Kerr

  2. Center for Ocean Exploration, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL, 34946, USA

    Wolfram M. Brück & Peter J. McCarthy

  3. Department of Chemistry, and Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI, C1A 4P3, Canada

    Russell G. Kerr

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  1. Thomas B. Brück
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Correspondence to Russell G. Kerr.

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Thomas B. Brück and Wolfram M. Brück have made equal contributions to this publication.

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Brück, T.B., Brück, W.M., Santiago-Vázquez, L.Z. et al. Diversity of the Bacterial Communities Associated with the Azooxanthellate Deep Water Octocorals Leptogorgia minimata, Iciligorgia schrammi, and Swiftia exertia . Mar Biotechnol 9, 561–576 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-007-9009-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-007-9009-1

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