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Assessment of bacterial community composition within and among Acropora loripes colonies in the wild and in captivity

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Abstract

A growing number of studies have provided insights into the diversity of coral-associated bacteria and their function in the coral holobiont. Yet, information about spatial heterogeneity of bacteria within coral colonies is limited. Using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we analyzed the bacterial community composition across four distinct locations in each of five wild Acropora loripes colonies. Considerable variation within and among colonies was present, which has implications for sampling strategies and data interpretation in coral microbiome research. Bacterial assemblages significantly differed in alpha and beta diversity among colonies, with all corals possessing a high relative abundance of Endozoicomonas. When the same A. loripes colonies were subsequently reared in aquaria over 4 weeks, the relative abundance of Marinobacter initially increased in all colonies. However, no significant alteration in bacterial community composition was observed over time and the colonies maintained distinct bacterial microbiomes.

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Data availability

The sequence data generated and analyzed in this study is available at NCBI under http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/590053, BioProject accession PRJNA590053.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Grant Milton and Craig Humphrey for coral collection in the field and the National Sea Simulator team at AIMS for maintaining the corals in aquaria. This work was funded by Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship FL180100036 to MJHvO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Katarina Damjanovic, Linda L. Blackall & Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville MC, PMB No 3, Queensland, 4810, Australia

    Katarina Damjanovic, Lesa M. Peplow & Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

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  1. Katarina Damjanovic
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  2. Linda L. Blackall
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Correspondence to Katarina Damjanovic.

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Damjanovic, K., Blackall, L.L., Peplow, L.M. et al. Assessment of bacterial community composition within and among Acropora loripes colonies in the wild and in captivity. Coral Reefs 39, 1245–1255 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01958-y

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