TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbiomes of Healthy and Bleached Corals During a 2016 Thermal Bleaching Event in the Upper Gulf of Thailand
AU - Kusdianto, Heru
AU - Kullapanich, Chitrasak
AU - Palasuk, Matanee
AU - Jandang, Suppakarn
AU - Pattaragulwanit, Kobchai
AU - Ouazzani, Jamal
AU - Chavanich, Suchana
AU - Viyakarn, Voranop
AU - Somboonna, Naraporn
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledged Gerry Plumley for English language editing. The authors acknowledged the Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and the Naval Special Warfare Command, Royal Thai Navy for their assistance in the field. Funding. This research was supported by Thailand Research Fund (RSA6180046), EU-Horizon 2020 Project TASCMAR (634674), NRCT-JSPS Core-to-Core Program, Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand), Microbiome Research Unit for Probiotics in Food and Cosmetics, and the 90th Anniversary of Chulalongkorn University Fund. The authors declare that this study received funding from Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand). Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand) was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by Thailand Research Fund (RSA6180046), EU-Horizon 2020 Project TASCMAR (634674), NRCT-JSPS Core-to-Core Program, Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand), Microbiome Research Unit for Probiotics in Food and Cosmetics, and the 90th Anniversary of Chulalongkorn University Fund. The authors declare that this study received funding from Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand). Mubadala Petroleum (Thailand) was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Kusdianto, Kullapanich, Palasuk, Jandang, Pattaragulwanit, Ouazzani, Chavanich, Viyakarn and Somboonna.
PY - 2021/6/28
Y1 - 2021/6/28
N2 - Global warming has caused elevated seawater temperature and coral bleaching, including events on shallow reefs in the upper Gulf of Thailand (uGoT). Previous studies have reported an association between loss of zooxanthellae and coral bleaching. However, studies on the microbial diversity of prokaryotes and eukaryotes (microbiome) as coral holobionts are also important and this information is still limited in the uGoT. To address this shortcoming, this report provided baseline information on the prokaryotic (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotic microbes of healthy and bleached colonies of four prevalent corals Acropora humilis, Acropora millepora, Platygyra sinensis, and Porites lutea and surrounding seawater and sediments, using 16S and 18S rRNA gene next-generation sequencing. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes showed isolated community profiles among sample types (corals, sediment, and seawater) (ANOSIM: P < 0.001, R = 0.51 for prokaryotic profiles and P < 0.001, R = 0.985 for eukaryotic microbe profiles). Among coral species, P. sinensis showed the most diverse prokaryotic community compared with the others (ANOSIM: P < 0.001, R = 0.636), and P. lutea showed the most diverse eukaryotic microbes (P = 0.014, R = 0.346). Healthy and bleached corals had some different microbiomes in species and their prevalences. For instance, the significant increase of Alphaproteobacteria in P. sinensis resulted in reduced prokaryotic community evenness and altered potential metabolic profiles (i.e., increased amino acid metabolism and genetic information processing and transcription, but decreased prokaryotic functions in cell motility, signaling, and transduction). For eukaryotic microbes, the loss of the algal Symbiodinium (colloquially known as zooxanthellae) in bleached corals such as P. lutea resulted in increased Chromista and Protista and, hence, clearly distinct eukaryotic microbe (including fungi) communities in healthy vs. bleached colonies of corals. Bleached corals were enriched in bacterial pathogens (e.g., Acinetobacter, Helicobacter, Malassesia, and Aspergillus) and decreased coral-beneficial prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes (e.g., Rhizobiales and Symbiodinium). Additionally, this study identified microbiome species in bleached P. lutea that might help bleaching recovery (e.g., high abundance of Rhizobiales, Oceanospirillales, Flavobacteriales, and Alteromonadales). Overall, our coral-associated microbiome analyses identified altered diversity patterns of bacteria, archaea, fungi, and eukaryotic microbes between healthy and bleached coral species that are prevalent in the uGoT. This knowledge supports our ongoing efforts to manipulate microbial diversity as a means of reducing the negative impacts of thermal bleaching events in corals inhabiting the uGoT.
AB - Global warming has caused elevated seawater temperature and coral bleaching, including events on shallow reefs in the upper Gulf of Thailand (uGoT). Previous studies have reported an association between loss of zooxanthellae and coral bleaching. However, studies on the microbial diversity of prokaryotes and eukaryotes (microbiome) as coral holobionts are also important and this information is still limited in the uGoT. To address this shortcoming, this report provided baseline information on the prokaryotic (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotic microbes of healthy and bleached colonies of four prevalent corals Acropora humilis, Acropora millepora, Platygyra sinensis, and Porites lutea and surrounding seawater and sediments, using 16S and 18S rRNA gene next-generation sequencing. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes showed isolated community profiles among sample types (corals, sediment, and seawater) (ANOSIM: P < 0.001, R = 0.51 for prokaryotic profiles and P < 0.001, R = 0.985 for eukaryotic microbe profiles). Among coral species, P. sinensis showed the most diverse prokaryotic community compared with the others (ANOSIM: P < 0.001, R = 0.636), and P. lutea showed the most diverse eukaryotic microbes (P = 0.014, R = 0.346). Healthy and bleached corals had some different microbiomes in species and their prevalences. For instance, the significant increase of Alphaproteobacteria in P. sinensis resulted in reduced prokaryotic community evenness and altered potential metabolic profiles (i.e., increased amino acid metabolism and genetic information processing and transcription, but decreased prokaryotic functions in cell motility, signaling, and transduction). For eukaryotic microbes, the loss of the algal Symbiodinium (colloquially known as zooxanthellae) in bleached corals such as P. lutea resulted in increased Chromista and Protista and, hence, clearly distinct eukaryotic microbe (including fungi) communities in healthy vs. bleached colonies of corals. Bleached corals were enriched in bacterial pathogens (e.g., Acinetobacter, Helicobacter, Malassesia, and Aspergillus) and decreased coral-beneficial prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes (e.g., Rhizobiales and Symbiodinium). Additionally, this study identified microbiome species in bleached P. lutea that might help bleaching recovery (e.g., high abundance of Rhizobiales, Oceanospirillales, Flavobacteriales, and Alteromonadales). Overall, our coral-associated microbiome analyses identified altered diversity patterns of bacteria, archaea, fungi, and eukaryotic microbes between healthy and bleached coral species that are prevalent in the uGoT. This knowledge supports our ongoing efforts to manipulate microbial diversity as a means of reducing the negative impacts of thermal bleaching events in corals inhabiting the uGoT.
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U2 - 10.3389/fmars.2021.643962
DO - 10.3389/fmars.2021.643962
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85109967248
SN - 2296-7745
VL - 8
JO - Frontiers in Marine Science
JF - Frontiers in Marine Science
M1 - 643962
ER -