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Seagrass biofilm communities at a naturally CO 2 ‐rich vent
Author(s) -
Hassenrück Christiane,
Hofmann Laurie C.,
Bischof Kai,
Ramette Alban
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.229
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1758-2229
DOI - 10.1111/1758-2229.12282
Subject(s) - epiphyte , crustose , seagrass , coralline algae , biology , ecology , coral reef , reef , algae , ocean acidification , ecosystem , climate change
Summary Seagrass meadows are a crucial component of tropical marine reef ecosystems. Seagrass plants are colonized by a multitude of epiphytic organisms that contribute to broadening the ecological role of seagrasses. To better understand how environmental changes like ocean acidification might affect epiphytic assemblages, the microbial community composition of the epiphytic biofilm of E nhalus acroides was investigated at a natural CO 2 vent in P apua N ew G uinea using molecular fingerprinting and next‐generation sequencing of 16 S and 18S rRNA genes. Both bacterial and eukaryotic epiphytes formed distinct communities at the CO 2 ‐impacted site compared with the control site. This site‐related CO 2 effect was also visible in the succession pattern of microbial epiphytes. We further found an increased relative sequence abundance of bacterial types associated with coral diseases at the CO 2 ‐impacted site ( F usobacteria , T halassomonas ), whereas eukaryotes such as certain crustose coralline algae commonly related to healthy reefs were less diverse. These trends in the epiphytic community of E . acroides suggest a potential role of seagrasses as vectors of coral pathogens and may support previous predictions of a decrease in reef health and prevalence of diseases under future ocean acidification scenarios.