Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Microb Ecol. 2013 May;65(4):1076-86. doi: 10.1007/s00248-012-0161-4. Epub 2013 Jan 15.
Coral health is under threat throughout the world due to regional and global stressors. White plague disease (WP) is one of the most important threats affecting the major reef builder of the Abrolhos Bank in Brazil, the endemic coral Mussismilia braziliensis. We performed a metagenomic analysis of healthy and WP-affected M. braziliensis in order to determine the types of microbes associated with this coral species. We also optimized a protocol for DNA extraction from coral tissues. Our taxonomic analysis revealed Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinomycetes as the main groups in all healthy and WP-affected corals. Vibrionales, members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides complex, Rickettsiales, and Neisseriales were more abundant in the WP-affected corals. Diseased corals also had more eukaryotic metagenomic sequences identified as Alveolata and Apicomplexa. Our results suggest that WP disease in M. braziliensis is caused by a polymicrobial consortium.
由于区域和全球压力，世界各地的珊瑚健康受到威胁。白瘟疫病（WP）是影响巴西阿布罗洛斯银行主要造礁珊瑚 Mussismilia braziliensis 的最重要威胁之一。我们对健康和 WP 感染的 M. braziliensis 进行了宏基因组分析，以确定与这种珊瑚物种相关的微生物类型。我们还优化了从珊瑚组织中提取 DNA 的方案。我们的分类分析显示，所有健康和 WP 感染的珊瑚中的主要菌群为变形菌门、拟杆菌门、厚壁菌门、蓝细菌门和放线菌门。WP 感染的珊瑚中 Vibrionales、Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides 复合体、立克次氏体目和奈瑟菌目更为丰富。患病珊瑚中还发现了更多的真核微生物序列，鉴定为 Alveolata 和 Apicomplexa。我们的结果表明，M. braziliensis 的 WP 疾病是由多微生物联合体引起的。
