Bacterial assemblages associated with Acropora palmata affected by white band disease in the Mexican region of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The bacterial assemblages associated with Acropora palmata from the Mexican Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico were analyzed by high throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Samples were taken from four substrates: apparently healthy corals, corals with white band disease, and the seawater and sediment surrounding these corals. The bacterial assemblages showed no significant differences among sampling sites and analyzed substrates, except between apparently healthy A. palmata and the sediments. In contrast, bacterial dominance patterns showed important differences; members of the genera Stenotrophomonas, Spirochaeta, and Pseudomonas dominated the samples of healthy corals, while Clostridium, Tepidibacter, and Desulfovibrio had higher relative abundances in the diseased colonies. As expected, sample types (water and sediment) also showed different bacterial patterns: the genera Enterobacter, Vibrio, Synechococcus, and Pseudoalteromonas were dominant in the seawater, while Thioprofundum and Pleorocapsa presented high relative abundances in the sediment. The genera Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, Clostridium, Tepidibacter, Enterobacter, Synechococcus, Spirochaeta, Pleurocapsa, Vibrio, Enterococcus, and Pseudoalteromonas mainly contributed to the dissimilarities between the substrates. This study contributes to the knowledge of bacterial assemblages associated with A. palmata in Mexican coral reefs and broadens the contributes to understanding of the effects of white band disease.