Abstract
A symbiosis of bacterial community (sometimes called microbiota) play essential roles in developmental life cycle and health of coral, starting since a larva. For examples, coral bacterial holobionts function nitrogen fixation, carbon supply, sulfur cycling and antibiotic production. Yet, a study of the dynamic of bacteria associated coral larvae development is complicated owning to a vast diversity and culturable difficulty of bacteria; hence this type of study remains unexplored for Acropora humilis larvae in Thai sea. This study represented the first to utilize 16S rRNA gene sequencing to describe the timely bacterial compositions during successfully cultured and reared A. humilis larval transformation in aquaculture (gametes were collected from Sattahip Bay, Chonburi province, Thailand), from gamete spawning (0 h) and fertilization stage (1 h), to embryonic cleavage (8 h), round cell development (28, 39 and 41 h), and planula formation (48 h). The sequencing results as estimated by Good’s coverage at genus level covered 99.65 ± 0.24% of total bacteria. While core phyla of bacteria were observed (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes), changes in bacterial population structures and differential predominant core bacterial orders were denoted for each larval developmental stage, from fertilization to embryonic cleavage and subsequently from the embryonic cleavage to round cell development (P = 0.007). For instances, Pseudoalteromonas and Oceanospirillales were found prevalent at 8 h, and Rhizobiales were at 48 h. The bacterial population structures from the round cell stage, particularly at 41 h, showed gradual drift towards those of the planula formation stage, suggesting microbial selection. Overall, this study provides preliminary insights into the dynamics of bacterial community and their potentially functional association (estimated from the bacterial compositions) during the developmental embryonic A. humilis in a cultivation system in Southeast Asia region.
Highlights
A symbiosis of bacterial community play essential roles in developmental life cycle and health of coral, starting since a larva
We reported truly the dynamics of the bacterial population structures during the developing A. humilis larvae in aquaculture using metagenomic-derived 16S rRNA gene sequencing
How a marine biogeography factor (i.e. Thai sea) plays role on coral gamete development has never been described and yet neither for the prevalent A. humilis species in the Thai sea, and this study is the first to identify the bacterial compositions associated with the early coral development stages from gamete fertilization to the formation of planula in aquacultured A. humilis
Summary
A symbiosis of bacterial community (sometimes called microbiota) play essential roles in developmental life cycle and health of coral, starting since a larva. Stresses from climate warming and anthropogenic activities have dramatically affected worldwide coral reef health, including Thailand and Southeast Asia region[1,2] Some coral genera, such as Acroporidae, Faviidae, Pocilloporidae and Poritidae, have significantly d eclined[3,4,5]. We reported truly the dynamics of the bacterial population structures (and their functional potentials) during the developing A. humilis larvae in aquaculture using metagenomic-derived 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This important knowledge will increase the understanding of the relationship between the bacterial communities and larval development for further apply in coral sexual reproduction cultivation technique
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