Diversity analysis of diazotrophs associated with corals from Xisha and Sanya, South China Sea
Keywords:
nifH, microbial community, nitrogen-fixing, microbe invasionAbstract
In recent years, many studies have shown an increase in coral associated microbial biodiversity in coral diseases. However, the variation of coral diazotroph, which plays an important role in the nitrogen cycle, is still unclear. To explore the changes of nitrogen fixing microbial communities, we analyzed the diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with corals in healthy vs. diseased conditions, and corals from two different locations (Xisha and Sanya). The diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with two coral species, Porites lutea and Pocillopora damicornis were assessed using cloning and sequencing of the nitrogenase gene nifH. Phylogenetic analysis indicated coral associated diazotrophs community structure varied in different coral species: Chlorobi dominated in Porites lutea, while Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were the most abundant nitrogen-fixing bacteria in Pocillopora damicornis. The dominant group of nitrogen-fixing bacteria was Chlorobi in healthy Porites lutea, but Cyanobacteria predominated in diseased ones. Moreover, the dominant nitrogen-fixing bacteria Gammaproteobacteria was replaced by Alphaproteobacteria in coral Pocillopora damicornis, from open sea to the coast. The diseased and coastal corals contained higher diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria than the healthy and open ocean corals. In conclusion, the nitrogen-fixing bacteria community structure shifted in response to the variation of coral species, coral health status and surrounding environments.
References
Ceh, J., Kilburn, M. R., Cliff, J. B., Raina, J.B., van Keulen, M., Bourne, D. G., 2013. Nutrient cycling in early coral life stages: Pocillopora damicornislarvae provide their algal symbiont (Symbiodinium) with nitrogen acquired from bacterial associates. Ecology and Evolution 3(8), 2393–2400.
Croquer, A., Bastidas, C., Elliott, A., and Sweet, M., 2013. Bacterial assemblages shifts from healthy to yellow band disease states in the dominant reef coral Montastraea faveolata. Environ Microbiol Rep. 5(1), 90–96.
Doney, S. C., 2010. The growing human footprint on coastal and open-ocean biogeochemistry. Science. 328(5985), 1512–1516.
Fabricius, K. E., 2005. Effects of terrestrial runoff on the ecology of corals and coral reefs: review and synthesis. Mar Pollut Bull. 50(2), 125–146.
Guinotte, J. M., Buddemeier, R. W., and Kleypas, J. A., 2003. Future coral reef habitat marginality: temporal and spatial effects of climate change in the Pacific basin. Coral Reefs 22, 551–558.
Hatcher, B. G., 1988. Coral reef primary productivity: A beggar's banquet. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 3(5), 106–111.
Hatcher, B. G., 1990. Coral reef primary productivity-A hierarchy of pattern and process. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 5(5), 149–155.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Mumby, P. J., Hooten, A. J., Steneck, R. S., Greenfield, P., Gomez, E., Harvell, C. D., Sale, P. F., Edwards, A. J., Caldeira, K., Knowlton, N., Eakin, C. M., Iglesias-Prieto, R., Muthiga, N., Bradbury, R. H., Dubi, A., Hatziolos, M. E., 2007. Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318(5857), 1737–1742.
Kimes, N. E., Van Nostrand, J. D., Weil, E., Zhou, J., and Morris, P. J., 2010. Microbial functional structure of Montastraea faveolata, an important Caribbean reef-building coral, differs between healthy and yellow-band diseased colonies. Environ Microbiol. 12(2), 541–556.
Koren, O., Rosenberg, E., 2006. Bacteria associated with mucus and tissues of the coral Oculina patagonica in summer and winter. Appl Environ Microbiol. 72(8), 5254–5259.
Koren, O., Rosenberg, E., 2008. Bacteria associated with the bleached and cave coral Oculina patagonica. Microb Ecol. 55(3), 523–529.
Krediet, C. J., Ritchie, K. B., Paul, V. J., Teplitski, M., 2013. Coral-associated micro-organisms and their roles in promoting coral health and thwarting diseases. Proc. Biol. Sci. 280(1755), 20122328.
Liu, P. J., Meng, P. J., Liu, L. L., Wang, J. T., Leu, M. Y., 2012. Impacts of human activities on coral reef ecosystems of southern Taiwan: a long-term study. Mar Pollut Bull. 64(6), 1129–1135.
Liu, S. M., Zhang, J., Chen, H. T., and Zhang, G. S., 2005. Factors influencing nutrient dynamics in the eutrophic Jiaozhou Bay, North China. Progress in Oceanography. 66(1), 66–85.
Meron, D., Rodolfo-Metalpa, R., Cunning, R., Baker, A. C., Fine, M., Banin, E., 2012. Changes in coral microbial communities in response to a natural pH gradient. ISME J. 6(9), 1775–1785.
Misic, C., Covazzi Harriague, A., and Trielli, F., 2011. Organic matter recycling in a beach environment influenced by sunscreen products and increased inorganic nutrient supply (Sturla, Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean). Sci Total Environ. 409(9), 1689–1696.
Munday, P. L., Jones, G. P., Pratchett1, M. S., and Williams, A. J., 2008. Climate change and the future for coral reef fishes. Fish and Fisheries 9(1), 261–285.
Nguyen, T.–A., Phan, M.–T., Cherbadji, I.I., Propp, M.V., Odintsov, V.S., and Propp, L.H., 2013. Primary production of coral ecosystems in the Vietnamese coastal and adjacent marine waters. Deep-Sea ResearchII. 96(1), 56–64.
Olson, J.B., Steppe, T.F., Litaker, R.W., Paerl, H.W., 1998. N2-fixing microbial consortiaassociated with the ice cover of Lake Bonney. Antarctica. Microbial Ecology 36 (3), 231–238.
Prakash, T., and Taylor, T. D., 2012. Functional assignment of metagenomic data: challenges and applications. Brief Bioinform. 13(6), 711–727.
Roder, C., Arif, C., Bayer, T., Aranda, M., Daniels, C., Shibl, A., Chavanich, S., Voolstra, C. R., 2014a. Bacterial profiling of White Plague Disease in a comparative coral species framework. ISME J. 8(1), 31–39.
Roder, C., Arif, C., Daniels, C., Weil, E., and Voolstra, C. R., 2014b. Bacterial profiling of White Plague Disease across corals and oceans indicates a conserved and distinct disease microbiome. Mol Ecol. 23(4), 965–974.
Rohwer, F., Seguritan, V., Azam, F., and Knowlton, N., 2002. Diversity and distribution of coral-associated bacteria. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 243, 1–10.
Scavia, D., Field, J. C., Boesch, D. F., Buddemeier, R. W., Burkett, V., Cayan, D. R., Michael, F., Marka, H., Robert W. H., Curt M., Denise J. R., Thomas C. R., Asbury, H.S., Titus, J. G., 2002. Climate change impacts on U.S. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems. Estuaries 25, 149–164.
Sheridan, C., Kramarsky-Winter, E., Sweet, M., Kushmaro, A., and Leal, M. C., 2013. Diseases in coral aquaculture: causes, implications and preventions. Aquaculture 396-399(1), 124–135.
Tai , X. S., Mao, W. L., Liu, G. X., Chen, T., Zhang, W., Wu, X. K., Long, H. Z., Zhang, B. G., Zhang, Y., 2013. High diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the upper reaches of the Heihe River, northwestern China. Biogeosciences 10(8), 5589–5600.
Tamura, K., Stecher, G., Peterson, D., Filipski, A., and Kumar, S., 2013. MEGA6: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6.0. Mol Biol Evol. 30(12), 2725–2729.
Vega Thurber, R., Willner-Hall, D., Rodriguez-Mueller, B., Desnues, C., Edwards, R. A., Angly, F., Dinsdale, E., Kelly, L., Rohwer, F., 2009. Metagenomic analysis of stressed coral holobionts. Environ Microbiol. 11(8), 2148–2163.
Vitousek, P. M., Cassman, K., Cleveland, C., Timcrews , Field, C. B., Grimm, N. B., ROBERT W. H., Roxanne M., Luiz M., Edward B. R., Sprent, J. I., 2002. Towards an ecological understandingof biological nitrogen fixation. Biogeochemistry. (57/58), 1–45.
Voss, J. D., and Richardson, L. L, 2006. Nutrient enrichment enhances black band disease progression in corals. Coral Reefs. 25(4), 569–576.
Wang, P., Zhang, X., and Kong, C, 2013.The response of allelopathic rice growth and microbial feedback to barnyard grass infestation in a paddy field experiment. European Journal of Soil Biology 56, 26–32.
Wegley, L., Edwards, R., Rodriguez-Brito, B., Liu, H., and Rohwer, F, 2007. Metagenomic analysis of the microbial community associated with the coral Porites astreoides. Environ Microbiol. 9(11), 2707–2719.
Yang, S., Sun, W., Zhang, F., and Li, Z, 2013.Phylogenetically diverse denitrifying and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in corals Alcyonium gracillimum and Tubastraea coccinea. Mar Biotechnol. 15(5), 540–551.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
