Microbial abundance in the coelenteron and mucus of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa and in bottom water of the reef environment

Mg Weinbauer,C Maier,J Ogier

doi:10.3354/ab00443

Abstract

AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 16:209-216 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00443 Microbial abundance in the coelenteron and mucus of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa and in bottom water of the reef environment Markus G. Weinbauer1,2,*, Julie Ogier3, Cornelia Maier1,2,3 1INSU-CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093, BP 28, 06234 Villefranche-sur-Mer Cedex, France 2Université Pierre et Marie-Curie-Paris, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093, 06230 Villefranche-sur-mer, France 3Department of Biological Oceanography, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands *Email: wein@obs-vlfr.fr ABSTRACT: Microorganisms play an important role in coral ecology; however, little is known about cold-water coral (CWC) reefs. Microbial abundance in bottom water of Lophelia pertusa-dominated CWC reefs in the Skagerrak, North Sea, was elevated by ca. 40% for prokaryotes and 70 to 90% for viruses compared to bottom water where no corals were present. This indicates that CWCs influence the microbial food web in bottom water. Furthermore, results suggest that microorganisms contributed significantly to the stock of organic nitrogen (13%) and organic phosphorus (32%) in bottom water. Prokaryotic abundances in the coelenteron of freshly collected corals were (2.0 ± 0.2) × 107 cells ml−l and viral abundances were (4.0 ± 0.6) × 107 particles ml−l. Prokaryotic abundances in coral mucus were (7.5 ± 0.7) × 107 cells ml−l and viral abundances were (1.7 ± 0.3) × 108 particles ml−l. Onboard incubations with elevated prokaryotic and viral abundances in the incubation water indicated that (1) corals accumulate microorganisms in the coelenteron as a potential food source and (2) control mechanisms exist for the abundance of prokaryotic cells and viral particles in the mucus. Our data suggest that L. pertusa controls microbial biomass in the CWC reef environment and coral microhabitats. KEY WORDS: Cold-water coral · Microbial abundance · Lophelia pertusa · Viruses · Prokaryotes · Bacteria · Reefs Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Weinbauer MG, Ogier J, Maier C (2012) Microbial abundance in the coelenteron and mucus of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa and in bottom water of the reef environment. Aquat Biol 16:209-216. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00443 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 16, No. 3. Online publication date: September 05, 2012 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.

Highlights

Microorganisms play an important role in coral ecology; little is known about cold-water coral (CWC) reefs
Microbial abundance in bottom water of Lophelia pertusadominated CWC reefs in the Skagerrak, North Sea, was elevated by ca. 40% for prokaryotes and 70 to 90% for viruses compared to bottom water where no corals were present
Cold-water corals (CWCs) such as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata are more widely distributed than previously assumed and are able to construct reef-like structures (Roberts et al 2006)

Summary

Introduction

Cold-water corals (CWCs) such as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata are more widely distributed than previously assumed and are able to construct reef-like structures (Roberts et al 2006). Prokaryotic abundances in the coelenteron of freshly collected corals were (2.0 ± 0.2) × 107 cells ml−l and viral abundances were (4.0 ± 0.6) × 107 particles ml−l. Prokaryotic abundances in coral mucus were (7.5 ± 0.7) × cells ml−l and viral abundances were (1.7 ± 0.3) × particles ml−l.

Results

Conclusion