Bacterial and algal symbiont dynamics in early recruits exposed to two adult coral species

Katarina Damjanovic; Linda L Blackall; Patricia Menendez; Madeleine JH van Oppen

Journal article

Bacterial and algal symbiont dynamics in early recruits exposed to two adult coral species

Katarina Damjanovic, Linda L Blackall, Patricia Menendez, Madeleine JH van Oppen

CORAL REEFS | SPRINGER | Published : 2019

DOI: 10.1007/s00338-019-01871-z

Abstract

Corals live in a symbiotic relationship with various microorganisms including bacteria, some of which are essential for host health and survival. Bacterial assemblages are typically highly diverse in juveniles and are speculated to exert roles critical to coral ontogenetic development. However, knowledge about bacterial dynamics in coral recruits is scarce, especially in brooders. In this study, we investigated the temporal dynamics of bacterial communities associated with Pocillopora acuta early recruits exposed to different microbial environments. One week after settlement, recruits were grown in a flow-through system with 0.4 µm filtered seawater either alone, or in the vicinity of adult ..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Madeleine van Oppen Author Biosciences

Linda Blackall Author Biosciences

Related Projects (2)

Enhanced coral stress tolerance via manipulation of prokaryotic symbionts

The project aims to develop a novel approach to improve environmental stress tolerance in corals. Coral reefs are under threat from a range ..

ENGINEERING MICROBIAL SYMBIONTS THAT INCREASE CORAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE

This project aims to develop microbes which are able to enhance the climate resilience of corals. Coral reefs around the world are being los..

Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Awarded by Ecological Society of Australia

Awarded by Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship

Funding Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Sea Simulator team at AIMS for their assistance with experimental setup. We also thank Bettina Glasl and Dr. Pedro Frade for their help in collecting coral colonies, Sophie Stephenson for help with recruit rearing and Lesa Peplow for support in the molecular laboratory. We are also grateful to Dr. Nicole Webster and Dr. Andrew Negri for discussions and advice about experimental design. This work was funded by an Australian Research Council grant to MvO and LB (DP160101468) and AIMS. KD is the recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and Australian Postgraduate Award (University of Melbourne) and funded by Ecological Society of Australia (TP825824). MvO acknowledges Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship FL180100036.