engleski

Assessment of predominant bacteria in noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis) collected in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

Noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis) is an endemicspecies and the largest known bivalve in the Mediterra-nean Sea. By filtering large amounts of water, they main-tain a high percentage of organic matter, hence playing animportant role in the marine ecosystem. The ecologicalcommunity of pen shells is impressive, and there arenumerous microorganisms present in its soft tissues. Sincethis species is highly endangered due to recently describedmass mortalities throughout the Mediterranean, this studywas aimed at finding out more about its microbiome. Inthis study, we identified the predominant bacterial popu-lations of specimens collected at three separate locationsalong the Eastern Adriatic coast. The predominant bacteriawere isolated and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed toidentify eight different bacterial genera:Aestuariibactersp., Aliivibriosp., Alteromonassp., Marinobactersp., Pseudoalteromonassp., Rubritaleasp., Thalassospirasp. and theVibrio splendidusclade. The identified generaare ubiquitous in the marine environment and have previ-ously been described as both beneficial symbionts andpotential pathogens in other molluscs. There was a cleardifference in the predominant bacterial populations be-tween northern and southern sampling sites, which couldbe linked to water temperature. These findings indicate theneed for expanded sampling over a longer time period, since more exhaustive research would provide informationvital to the conservation of this critically endangeredspecies.

Symbiosis ; Endosymbiont ; Mollusc ; Bivalve ; Microbiome

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