Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6): 90-104.doi: 10.11978/2022013CSTR: 32234.14.2022013

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Phycosphere microbial communities of zooxanthellae cultures isolated from corals in Sanya Bay, South China Sea

HUANG Sijun1,2(), QIU Chen1,3, LONG Chao1,2, LONG Lijuan1,2,4   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
    2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    4. Sanya Institute of Ocean Eco-Environmental Engineering, Yazhou Scientific Bay, Sanya 572000, China
  • Received:2022-01-23 Revised:2022-03-29 Online:2022-11-10 Published:2022-04-12
  • Contact: HUANG Sijun E-mail:huangsijun@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(41576126);National Natural Science Foundation of China(42176116);Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(2017A030306020);Rising Star Foundation of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology(NHXX2019ST0101);Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS(2018377)

Abstract:

Zooxanthellae, bacteria, and reef—building corals have a close symbiotic relationship, but the phycosphere bacterial community of zooxanthellae is poorly studied. In this study, six strains of zooxanthellae from five genera were cultured in vitro, among which two were free-living zooxanthellae strains (type E) and four were anchorage-dependent living zooxanthellae strains (type A—D). Bacterial community analysis was performed by collecting three different particle size fractions (0.2-3μm, >3μm, and settling algae cells). Results showed that the phycosphere bacterial communities between the two lifestyle algal strains were significantly different. The bacterial species richness in anchorage-dependent living strains was significantly higher than that in free-living strains. Seven bacterial genera were observed to be present in all the algal strains, representing the core bacterial communities of zooxanthellae. Comparing the core bacterial communities in three particle size samples, we found that the core bacterial communities in >3μm samples and in 0.2-3μm samples are highly similar, but both were significantly different from the “Settling” samples.

Key words: symbiodinium, coral, symbiotic relationship, phycosphere bacterial community, algae strain

CLC Number: 

  • Q938