Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals
ABSTRACT Polyp bail-out constitutes both a stress response and an asexual reproductive strategy that potentially facilitates dispersal of some scleractinian corals, including several dominant reef-building taxa in the family Pocilloporidae. Recent studies have proposed that microorganisms may be inv...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Microbiology Spectrum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00257-23 |
| _version_ | 1797741775339651072 |
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| author | Po-Shun Chuang Yosuke Yamada Po-Yu Liu Sen-Lin Tang Satoshi Mitarai |
| author_facet | Po-Shun Chuang Yosuke Yamada Po-Yu Liu Sen-Lin Tang Satoshi Mitarai |
| author_sort | Po-Shun Chuang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Polyp bail-out constitutes both a stress response and an asexual reproductive strategy that potentially facilitates dispersal of some scleractinian corals, including several dominant reef-building taxa in the family Pocilloporidae. Recent studies have proposed that microorganisms may be involved in onset and progression of polyp bail-out. However, changes in the coral microbiome during polyp bail-out have not been investigated. In this study, we induced polyp bail-out in Pocillopora corals using hypersaline and hyperthermal methods. Bacterial community dynamics during bail-out induction were examined using the V5-V6 region of the 16S-rRNA gene. From 70 16S-rRNA gene libraries constructed from coral tissues, 1,980 OTUs were identified. Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria consistently constituted the dominant bacterial taxa in all coral tissue samples. Onset of polyp bail-out was characterized by increased relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria and decreased abundance of Gammaproteobacteria in both induction experiments, with the shift being more prominent in response to elevated temperature than to elevated salinity. Four OTUs, affiliated with Thalassospira, Marisediminitalea, Rhodobacteraceae, and Myxococcales, showed concurrent abundance increases at the onset of polyp bail-out in both experiments, suggesting potential microbial causes of this coral stress response. IMPORTANCE Polyp bail-out represents both a stress response and an asexual reproductive strategy with significant implications for reshaping tropical coral reefs in response to global climate change. Although earlier studies have suggested that coral-associated microbiomes likely contribute to initiation of polyp bail-out in scleractinian corals, there have been no studies of coral microbiome shifts during polyp bail-out. In this study, we present the first investigation of changes in bacterial symbionts during two experiments in which polyp bail-out was induced by different environmental stressors. These results provide a background of coral microbiome dynamics during polyp bail-out development. Increases in abundance of Thalassospira, Marisediminitalea, Rhodobacteraceae, and Myxococcales that occurred in both experiments suggest that these bacteria are potential microbial causes of polyp bail-out, shedding light on the proximal triggering mechanism of this coral stress response. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:31:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9232ad7131fe493283832332eb7a366b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2165-0497 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:31:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiology Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj.art-9232ad7131fe493283832332eb7a366b2023-08-17T13:04:14ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyMicrobiology Spectrum2165-04972023-08-0111410.1128/spectrum.00257-23Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora CoralsPo-Shun Chuang0Yosuke Yamada1Po-Yu Liu2Sen-Lin Tang3Satoshi Mitarai4Marine Biophysics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, JapanMarine Biophysics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, JapanBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)Marine Biophysics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, JapanABSTRACT Polyp bail-out constitutes both a stress response and an asexual reproductive strategy that potentially facilitates dispersal of some scleractinian corals, including several dominant reef-building taxa in the family Pocilloporidae. Recent studies have proposed that microorganisms may be involved in onset and progression of polyp bail-out. However, changes in the coral microbiome during polyp bail-out have not been investigated. In this study, we induced polyp bail-out in Pocillopora corals using hypersaline and hyperthermal methods. Bacterial community dynamics during bail-out induction were examined using the V5-V6 region of the 16S-rRNA gene. From 70 16S-rRNA gene libraries constructed from coral tissues, 1,980 OTUs were identified. Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria consistently constituted the dominant bacterial taxa in all coral tissue samples. Onset of polyp bail-out was characterized by increased relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria and decreased abundance of Gammaproteobacteria in both induction experiments, with the shift being more prominent in response to elevated temperature than to elevated salinity. Four OTUs, affiliated with Thalassospira, Marisediminitalea, Rhodobacteraceae, and Myxococcales, showed concurrent abundance increases at the onset of polyp bail-out in both experiments, suggesting potential microbial causes of this coral stress response. IMPORTANCE Polyp bail-out represents both a stress response and an asexual reproductive strategy with significant implications for reshaping tropical coral reefs in response to global climate change. Although earlier studies have suggested that coral-associated microbiomes likely contribute to initiation of polyp bail-out in scleractinian corals, there have been no studies of coral microbiome shifts during polyp bail-out. In this study, we present the first investigation of changes in bacterial symbionts during two experiments in which polyp bail-out was induced by different environmental stressors. These results provide a background of coral microbiome dynamics during polyp bail-out development. Increases in abundance of Thalassospira, Marisediminitalea, Rhodobacteraceae, and Myxococcales that occurred in both experiments suggest that these bacteria are potential microbial causes of polyp bail-out, shedding light on the proximal triggering mechanism of this coral stress response.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00257-23polyp bail-outPocilloporamicrobiomebacterial communityThalassospira |
| spellingShingle | Po-Shun Chuang Yosuke Yamada Po-Yu Liu Sen-Lin Tang Satoshi Mitarai Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals Microbiology Spectrum polyp bail-out Pocillopora microbiome bacterial community Thalassospira |
| title | Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals |
| title_full | Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals |
| title_fullStr | Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals |
| title_short | Bacterial Community Shifts during Polyp Bail-Out Induction in Pocillopora Corals |
| title_sort | bacterial community shifts during polyp bail out induction in pocillopora corals |
| topic | polyp bail-out Pocillopora microbiome bacterial community Thalassospira |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00257-23 |
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