Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing
The loggerhead sea turtle is considered a keystone species with a major ecological role in Mediterranean marine environment. As is the case with other wild reptiles, their outer microbiome is rarely studied. Although there are several studies on sea turtle’s macro-epibionts and endo-microbiota, ther...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.907368/full |
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| author | Lucija Kanjer Klara Filek Maja Mucko Roksana Majewska Roksana Majewska Romana Gračan Adriana Trotta Aliki Panagopoulou Marialaura Corrente Antonio Di Bello Sunčica Bosak |
| author_facet | Lucija Kanjer Klara Filek Maja Mucko Roksana Majewska Roksana Majewska Romana Gračan Adriana Trotta Aliki Panagopoulou Marialaura Corrente Antonio Di Bello Sunčica Bosak |
| author_sort | Lucija Kanjer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The loggerhead sea turtle is considered a keystone species with a major ecological role in Mediterranean marine environment. As is the case with other wild reptiles, their outer microbiome is rarely studied. Although there are several studies on sea turtle’s macro-epibionts and endo-microbiota, there has been little research on epibiotic microbiota associated with turtle skin and carapace. Therefore we aimed to provide the identification of combined epibiotic eukaryotic, bacterial and archaeal microbiota on Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles. In this study, we sampled skins and carapaces of 26 loggerheads from the Mediterranean Sea during 2018 and 2019. To investigate the overall microbial diversity and composition, amplicon sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes was performed. We found that the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle epibiotic microbiota is a reservoir of a vast variety of microbial species. Microbial communities mostly varied by different locations and seas, while within bacterial communities’ significant difference was observed between sampled body sites (carapace vs. skin). In terms of relative abundance, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota were the most represented phyla within prokaryotes, while Alveolata and Stramenopiles thrived among eukaryotes. This study, besides providing a first survey of microbial eukaryotes on loggerheads via metabarcoding, identifies fine differences within both bacterial and eukaryotic microbial communities that seem to reflect the host anatomy and habitat. Multi-domain epi-microbiome surveys provide additional layers of information that are complementary with previous morphological studies and enable better understanding of the biology and ecology of these vulnerable marine reptiles. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T16:30:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5dc6ba6397d04a9c83006e15611d4ce1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T16:30:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-5dc6ba6397d04a9c83006e15611d4ce12022-12-22T00:58:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2022-07-011010.3389/fevo.2022.907368907368Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencingLucija Kanjer0Klara Filek1Maja Mucko2Roksana Majewska3Roksana Majewska4Romana Gračan5Adriana Trotta6Aliki Panagopoulou7Marialaura Corrente8Antonio Di Bello9Sunčica Bosak10Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaUnit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South AfricaHuman Metabolomics, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South AfricaDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyARCHELON, The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, Athens, GreeceDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, ItalyDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaThe loggerhead sea turtle is considered a keystone species with a major ecological role in Mediterranean marine environment. As is the case with other wild reptiles, their outer microbiome is rarely studied. Although there are several studies on sea turtle’s macro-epibionts and endo-microbiota, there has been little research on epibiotic microbiota associated with turtle skin and carapace. Therefore we aimed to provide the identification of combined epibiotic eukaryotic, bacterial and archaeal microbiota on Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles. In this study, we sampled skins and carapaces of 26 loggerheads from the Mediterranean Sea during 2018 and 2019. To investigate the overall microbial diversity and composition, amplicon sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes was performed. We found that the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle epibiotic microbiota is a reservoir of a vast variety of microbial species. Microbial communities mostly varied by different locations and seas, while within bacterial communities’ significant difference was observed between sampled body sites (carapace vs. skin). In terms of relative abundance, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota were the most represented phyla within prokaryotes, while Alveolata and Stramenopiles thrived among eukaryotes. This study, besides providing a first survey of microbial eukaryotes on loggerheads via metabarcoding, identifies fine differences within both bacterial and eukaryotic microbial communities that seem to reflect the host anatomy and habitat. Multi-domain epi-microbiome surveys provide additional layers of information that are complementary with previous morphological studies and enable better understanding of the biology and ecology of these vulnerable marine reptiles.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.907368/fullepizoicmicrobiomereptileCaretta carettaskincarapace |
| spellingShingle | Lucija Kanjer Klara Filek Maja Mucko Roksana Majewska Roksana Majewska Romana Gračan Adriana Trotta Aliki Panagopoulou Marialaura Corrente Antonio Di Bello Sunčica Bosak Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution epizoic microbiome reptile Caretta caretta skin carapace |
| title | Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing |
| title_full | Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing |
| title_fullStr | Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing |
| title_short | Surface microbiota of Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing |
| title_sort | surface microbiota of mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles unraveled by 16s and 18s amplicon sequencing |
| topic | epizoic microbiome reptile Caretta caretta skin carapace |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.907368/full |
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