Coral-bacterial communities before and after a coral mass spawning event on Ningaloo Reef

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 7; no. 5; p. e36920
• Main Authors: Ceh, Janja, Raina, Jean-Baptiste, Soo, Rochelle M, van Keulen, Mike, Bourne, David G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16.05.2012; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acropora tenuis; Alphaproteobacteria; Analysis; Animals; Anthozoa - microbiology; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Bacteria - genetics; Biodiversity; Biofilms; Bioinformatics; Biology; Change detection; Colonies; Communities; Community structure; Coral Reefs; Corals; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Earth Sciences; Genetics; Pocillopora damicornis; Reefs; Relative abundance; Reproduction (biology); RNA; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; rRNA; Science; Spawning; Species diversity; Studies; Symbiodinium; Tubastraea faulkneri; Vibrio coralliilyticus; Western Australia; Western Australia; Queensland Australia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036920

Bacteria associated with three coral species, Acropora tenuis, Pocillopora damicornis and Tubastrea faulkneri, were assessed before and after coral mass spawning on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. Two colonies of each species were sampled before and after the mass spawning event and two additional samples were collected for P. damicornis after planulation. A variable 470 bp region of the 16 S rRNA gene was selected for pyrosequencing to provide an understanding of potential variations in coral-associated bacterial diversity and community structure. Bacterial diversity increased for all coral species after spawning as assessed by Chao1 diversity indicators. Minimal changes in community structure were observed at the class level and data at the taxonomical level of genus incorporated into a PCA analysis indicated that despite bacterial diversity increasing after spawning, coral-associated community structure did not shift greatly with samples grouped according to species. However, interesting changes could be detected from the dataset; for example, α-Proteobacteria increased in relative abundance after coral spawning and particularly the Roseobacter clade was found to be prominent in all coral species, indicating that this group may be important in coral reproduction.