Coral-associated viruses and bacteria in the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Thanh Thuy Nguyen¹  Thierry Bouvier¹  Thi Viet Ha Bui¹  Van Thuoc Chu¹  The Thu Pham¹  Corinne Bouvier¹  Yvan Bettarel¹  Quang Huy Tran¹  Sebastien Villeger¹  Justine Brune¹  Thi Ngoc Mai Cung¹ 

关键词: Viruses;    Coral-associated bacteria;    Mucus;    Symbionts;    Coral reefs;   

DOI  :  10.3354/ame01775

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: Viruses inhabiting the surface mucus layer of scleractinian corals have received little ecological attention so far. Yet they have recently been shown to be highly abundant and could even play a pivotal role in coral health. A fundamental aspect that remains unresolved is whether their abundance and diversity change with the trophic state of their environment. The present study examined the variability in the abundance of viral and bacterial epibionts on 13 coral species collected from 2 different sites in the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: one station heavily affected by anthropogenic activity (Cat Ba Island) and one protected offshore station (Long Chau Island). In general, viral abundance was significantly higher in coral mucus (mean = 10.6 ± 2.0 × 10⁷ virus-like particles ml^�?1) than in the surrounding water (5.2 ± 1.3 × 10⁷ virus-like particles ml^�?1). Concomitantly, the abundance and community diversity (inferred from phylogenetic and morphological analyses) of their mucosal bacterial hosts strongly differed from their planktonic counterparts. Surprisingly, despite large differences in water quality and nutrient concentrations between Cat Ba and Long Chau, there were no significant differences in the concentrations of epibiotic viruses and bacteria measured in the only 2 coral species (i.e. Pavona decussata and Lobophyllia flabelliformis) that were common at both sites. The ability of corals to shed bacteria to compensate for their fast growth in nutrient-rich mucus is questioned here.

【 授权许可】

Unknown