Microbiomes of Ecologically Dominant Zooxanthellate Anthozoans: A Tropical-Temperate Comparison

Marine bacteria are known to play an important role in cnidarian health, the cycling of organic matter and dimethylsulfionopropionate (DMSP) in reef ecosystems. The breadth of investigation surrounding this relationship in tropical reefs is vast; however, little work has been done in temperate non-reef building systems. Anthopleura elegantissima is a common zooxanthellate anthozoan on the Northeastern (NE) Pacific coast, also known to produce DMSP, yet relatively little is known about the bacterial community it harbors. In this study, we compare the bacterial communities of tropical Porites and Pocillopora species with the temperate Anthopleura elegantissima. We further compare bleached A. elegantissima polyps to polyps dark with zooxanthellae to investigate the complex relationship between host, symbiodinium, and bacteria.

We sampled coral mucus from 45 individual coral colonies of Porites rus and Pocillopora damicornis, and Porites lutea in Moorea, French Polynesia and capitulum from 6 individual A. elegantissima polyps, which strikingly varied in color attributable to symbionts, from Moss Landing, California. All samples were processed according to the environmental microbiome project (EMP) protocols. The A. elegantissima samples also underwent microbial metagenome sequencing in an attempt to infer environmental function of these symbionts.

In corals, major bacterial groups included Alteromonas, Rhodobacteraceae, and Vibrio. Vibrio, along with Rhodobacteraceae, are associated with DMSP metabolism. Pseudoalteromonadaceae varied greatly among samples, without correlation to species, similar to previous studies. Data analysis for anemones is in progress.

DMSP and DMS have been studied for their role in forming cloud condensation nuclei, potentially leading to climate cooling. Anthopleura is thought to be the most abundant upper intertidal invertebrate in the NE Pacific, potentially making it an important player in coastal DMSP cycling.

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