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Bacterial communities associated with hydromedusa Gonionemus vertens in different regions in Chinese coastal waters

  • Ecology
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Abstract

Bacteria communities in cnidarian jellyfish can be harmful to many important aquaculture species, as they can be key vectors of bacterial pathogens. However, our knowledge of bacterial communities associated with jellyfish in culture ponds and their potential roles in the regulation of aquaculture species remains unclear. In this study, sequencing based on the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was used to investigate the composition and variation of the bacterial communities associated with hydromedusa Gonionemus vertens in sea cucumber culture ponds and natural marine environment. The associated bacterial communities of G. vertens from the culture ponds in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea had significantly different compositions, when compared with those from ambient seawater environment. Furthermore, bacterial communities associated with G. vertens had similar diversity and composition in culture ponds and natural marine environment in the Yellow Sea. There were 31 unique bacterial biomarkers identified in three locations. The major communities were highly abundant in Kiloniellales, Octadecabacter, Polynucleobacter, and Polaribacter, and are related to the environmental information processing. Pathogen candidates such as Vibrionales and Chlamydiales had notably low relative abundances (<1%). The venom of the jellyfish was considered responsible for damage to the aquaculture. This study provides important data to help assess the impact of cnidarians-associated bacterial communities on pond aquaculture and the influences on material cycling and energy flow in marine ecosystems.

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Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China

    Wenjin Hao

  2. Muping Coastal Environment Research Station, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China

    Lei Wang, Tingting Sun, Saijun Peng, Yongxue Li, Jianmin Zhao & Zhijun Dong

  3. Shandong Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Restoration, Shandong Marine Resource and Environment Research Institute, Yantai, 264006, China

    Fan Li

  4. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Jianmin Zhao & Zhijun Dong

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  1. Wenjin Hao
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  2. Lei Wang
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  3. Fan Li
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  6. Yongxue Li
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Correspondence to Zhijun Dong.

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Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFC1406501), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U2106208, 42003064, 41876138), the Key Research and Development Program of Yantai (No. 2020MSGY056), and the Shandong Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Restoration (No. 201921)

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Hao, W., Wang, L., Li, F. et al. Bacterial communities associated with hydromedusa Gonionemus vertens in different regions in Chinese coastal waters. J. Ocean. Limnol. 40, 1530–1543 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-1036-7

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