School of Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, 90 South St, Murdoch, Perth, WA 6050, Australia,
Microb Ecol. 2013 Jan;65(1):227-31. doi: 10.1007/s00248-012-0105-z. Epub 2012 Aug 16.
Diverse and abundant bacterial populations play important functional roles in the multi-partite association of the coral holobiont. The specificity of coral-associated assemblages remains unclear, and little is known about the inheritance of specific bacteria from the parent colony to their offspring. This study investigated if broadcast spawning and brooding corals release specific and potentially beneficial bacteria with their offspring to secure maintenance across generations. Two coral species, Acropora tenuis and Pocillopora damicornis, were maintained in 0.2 μm filtered seawater during the release of their gametes and planulae, respectively. Water samples, excluding gametes and planulae, were subsequently collected, and bacterial diversity was assessed through a pyrosequencing approach amplifying a 470-bp region of the 16S rRNA gene including the variable regions 1-3. Compared to the high bacterial diversity harboured by corals, only a few taxa of bacteria were released by adult corals. Both A. tenuis and P. damicornis released similar bacteria, and the genera Alteromonas and Roseobacter were abundant in large proportions in the seawater of both species after reproduction. This study suggests that adult corals may release bacteria with their offspring to benefit the fitness in early coral life stages.
多样且丰富的细菌种群在珊瑚共生体的多部分关联中发挥着重要的功能作用。珊瑚相关组合的特异性仍然不清楚，而且对于特定细菌从亲代群体传递给后代的机制知之甚少。本研究调查了是否有性繁殖和卵生珊瑚会随其后代释放特定的、可能有益的细菌，以确保世代间的维持。两种珊瑚，即纤细鹿角珊瑚和鞍形鹿角珊瑚，分别在释放配子和浮游幼虫期间用 0.2μm 过滤海水进行培养。随后收集了不包括配子和浮游幼虫的水样，并通过扩增 16S rRNA 基因的 470bp 区域（包括可变区 1-3）的焦磷酸测序方法评估细菌多样性。与珊瑚所具有的高细菌多样性相比，成年珊瑚释放的细菌种类较少。纤细鹿角珊瑚和鞍形鹿角珊瑚释放的细菌相似，且在繁殖后，海水中的交替单胞菌属和玫瑰杆菌属的丰度很高。本研究表明，成年珊瑚可能会随其后代释放细菌，以提高早期珊瑚生命阶段的适应性。
