engleski

Dynamics of microbial assemblages associated with marine macrophyte surfaces

Background: Marine macrophyte surfaces are inhabited by diverse microbial communities. Studies of these epiphytic microbes typically do not account for temporal changes or use low sampling frequency approaches, making it difficult to describe in detail how communities change over time. Objectives: Our objective was to conduct monthly sampling of microbial epiphytes inhabiting the surfaces of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa and the invasive macroalga Caulerpa cylindracea to provide a detailed description of how communities change over time. Methods: Epiphytic microbial communities were sampled at monthly intervals in a meadow of C. nodosa invaded by C. cylindracea and in a monospecific settlement of C. cylindracea. The ambient prokaryotic picoplankton community was also sampled on the same dates. The community structure was characterized using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Results: Community structure analysis at the OTU level revealed differences between communities in ambient water and host associated communities, as well as between communities associated with different host species. Temporal changes associated with the hosts’ growth cycle were also observed. Taxonomic analysis revealed similar high rank taxa (phyla and classes) in ambient water and epiphytic communities, with the exception of Desulfobacterota, characteristic of C. cylindracea. At lower taxonomic levels (families and genera), taxa present throughout the sampling period accounted for the majority of sequences, while less abundant groups exhibited temporal patterns associated with the host’s growth cycle. In conclusion, epiphytic microbial communities of marine macrophytes appear to be host-specific and contain groups that exhibit temporal changes.

marine epiphytic microbes ; marine macrophytes ; temporal community change ; Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing

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