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Phage–bacteria network analysis and its implication for the understanding of coral disease
Author(s) -
Soffer Nitzan,
Zaneveld Jesse,
Vega Thurber Rebecca
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12553
Subject(s) - biology , bacteria , bacteriophage , phage therapy , microbiology and biotechnology , context (archaeology) , commensalism , coral , myoviridae , outbreak , 16s ribosomal rna , ecology , virology , gene , genetics , escherichia coli , paleontology
Summary Multiple studies have explored microbial shifts in diseased or stressed corals; however, little is known about bacteriophage interactions with microbes in this context. This study characterized microbial 16S rRNA amplicons and phage metagenomes associated with Montastraea annularis corals during a concurrent white plague disease outbreak and bleaching event. Phage consortia differed between bleached and diseased tissues. Phages in the family Inoviridae were elevated in diseased or healthy tissues compared with bleached portions of diseased tissues. Microbial communities also differed between diseased and bleached corals. Bacteria in the orders R hodobacterales and C ampylobacterales were increased while K iloniellales was decreased in diseased compared with other tissues. A network of phage–bacteria interactions was constructed of all phage strains and 11 bacterial genera that differed across health states. Phage–bacteria interactions varied in specificity: phages interacted with one to eight bacterial hosts while bacteria interacted with up to 59 phages. Six phages were identified that interacted exclusively with R hodobacterales and C ampylobacterales . These results suggest that phages have a role in controlling stress‐associated bacteria, and that networks can be utilized to select potential phages for mitigating detrimental bacterial growth in phage therapy applications.