Key Lab of Coastal Biology and Biological Resource Utilization, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264000, Shandong, China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China.
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China; Key Lab of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Nov 15;250:109459. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109459. Epub 2019 Aug 31.
Bacterial biofilms, which are a group of bacteria attaching to and ultimately forming communities on reefs, perform essential ecological functions in coastal ecosystems. Particularly, they may attract or repulse the settling down of opportunistic algae. However, this phenomenon and the interaction mechanism are not fully understood. This study investigated reefs from the Changdao coastal zone to determine the structures and functions of bacterial biofilms symbiosing with various algae using high-throughput sequencing analysis. The Shannon diversity index of microbiota with algal symbiosis reached 5.34, which was higher than that of microbiota wherein algae were absent (4.80). The beta diversity results for 11 samples revealed that there existed a separation between bacterial communities on reefs with and without attached algae, while communities with similar algae clustered together. The taxa mostly associated with algae-symbiotic microbiota are the Actinobacteria phylum, and the Flavobacteriia and Gammaproteobacteria classes. The Cyanobacteria phylum was not associated with algae-symbiotic microbiota. As revealed by functional analysis, the bacteria mostly involved in the metabolism of sulfur were represented by brown and red algae in the biofilm symbiosis. Bacteria related to the metabolism of certain trace elements were observed only in specific groups. Moreover, phototrophy-related bacteria were less abundant in samples coexisting with algae. This study established the link between bacterial biofilms and algal settlements on costal reefs, and revealed the possible holobiont relationship between them. This may provide new technical directions toward realizing algal cultivation and management during the construction of artificial reef ecosystems.
细菌生物膜是一组附着在珊瑚礁上并最终形成群落的细菌，它们在沿海生态系统中发挥着重要的生态功能。特别是，它们可能吸引或排斥机会性藻类的定居。然而，这种现象及其相互作用机制尚未完全了解。本研究通过高通量测序分析，调查了长岛沿海地区的珊瑚礁，以确定与各种藻类共生的细菌生物膜的结构和功能。与藻类共生的微生物群的 Shannon 多样性指数达到 5.34，高于没有藻类的微生物群（4.80）。11 个样本的β多样性结果表明，有附着藻类的珊瑚礁上的细菌群落存在分离，而具有相似藻类的群落则聚集在一起。与藻类共生的微生物群主要与放线菌门、黄杆菌门和γ变形菌门有关。蓝藻门与藻类共生的微生物群没有关联。功能分析显示，生物膜共生中与硫代谢有关的细菌主要由棕色和红色藻类代表。仅在特定群体中观察到与某些微量元素代谢有关的细菌。此外，与光合作用有关的细菌在与藻类共存的样本中含量较少。本研究建立了沿海珊瑚礁上细菌生物膜与藻类定居之间的联系，并揭示了它们之间可能存在的整体共生关系。这可能为人工珊瑚礁生态系统建设中实现藻类养殖和管理提供新的技术方向。
