The Potential Roles of Bacterial Communities in Coral Defence: A Case Study at Talang-Talang Reef
Complex microbial communities are known to exert significant influence over coral reef ecosystems. The Talang- Satang National Park is situated off the coast of Sematan and is one of the most diverse ecosystems found off-Sarawak. Interestingly, the Talang-talang reef thrives at above-average tem...
Saved in:
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | E-Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Springer
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10563/1/NO%20135%20The%20Potential%20Roles%20of%20Bacterial%20Communities%20in%20Coral%20Defence%20%28abstract%29.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10563/ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12601-015-0024-2#page-1 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Complex microbial communities are known to exert
significant influence over coral reef ecosystems. The Talang-
Satang National Park is situated off the coast of Sematan and is one
of the most diverse ecosystems found off-Sarawak. Interestingly,
the Talang-talang reef thrives at above-average temperatures of 28-
30°C throughout the year. Through isolation and identification
(16S rRNA) of native microbes from the coral, the surface mucus
layer (SML), as well as the surrounding sediment and waters, we
were able to determine the species composition and abundance of
the culturable bacteria in the coral reef ecosystem. Isolates found
attached to the coral are related mostly to Vibrio spp., presumably
attached to the mucus from the water column and surrounding
sediment. Pathogenic Vibrio spp. and Bacillus spp. were dominant
amongst the isolates from the water column and sediment, while
known coral pathogens responsible for coral bleaching, Vibrio
coralliilyticus and Vibrio shiloi, were isolated from the coral SML
and sediment samples respectively. Coral SML isolates were found
to be closely related to known nitrogen fixers and antibiotic
producers with tolerance towards elevated temperatures and heavy
metal contamination, offering a possible explanation why the local
corals are able to thrive in higher than usual temperatures. This
specialized microbiota may be important for protecting the corals
from pathogens by occupying entry niches and/or through the
production of secondary metabolites such as antibiotics. The
communities from the coral SML were tested against each other at
28, 30 and 32°C, and were also assessed for the presence of type I modular polyketides synthase (PKS) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes which are both involved in the production of antibiotic compounds. The bacterial community from the SML exhibited antimicrobial properties under normal temperatures while pathogenic strains appeared toxic at elevated temperatures
and our results highlight the role of the coral SML bacterial
community in the coral’s defence. |
---|