Abstract
We utilized methods of sediment cultivation, catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization, scanning electron microscopy, and 16s rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the presence of novel filamentous cable bacteria (CB) in estuarine sediments bioturbated by the mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis Dana and also to test for trophic connections between the shrimp, a commensal bivalve (Neaeromya rugifera), and the sediment. Agglutinated sediments from the linings of shrimp burrows exhibited higher abundances of CB compared to surrounding suboxic and anoxic sediments. Furthermore, CB abundance and activity increased in these sediments when they were incubated under oxygenated seawater. Through core microbiome analysis, we found that the microbiomes of the shrimp and bivalve shared 181 taxa with the sediment bacterial community, and that these shared taxa represented 17.9% of all reads. Therefore, bacterial biomass in the burrow sediment lining is likely a major food source for both the shrimp and the bivalve. The biogeochemical conditions created by shrimp burrows and other irrigators may help promote the growth of CB and select for other dominant members of the bacterial community, particularly a variety of members of the Proteobacteria. These associations give new understanding to the ecology of a burrowing crustacean that is common, but in decline, throughout intertidal mudflats of Northeastern Pacific estuaries.
Highlights
North American thalassinid mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis Dana populate and form dense beds of burrows in estuarine mudflat sediments from Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Morro Bay, California (USA) (Williams 1986, Chapman et al 2012)
cable bacteria (CB) within sediments associated with Upogebia pugettensis burrows
The initial UB-S samples of U. pugettensis burrow linings recovered for this study were composed of a mud−clay and silt substrate and appeared to be cemented by shrimp secretions and mineral precipitates, as suggested by previous observations (Thompson & Pritchard 1969)
Summary
North American thalassinid mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis Dana populate and form dense beds of burrows in estuarine mudflat sediments from Prince William Sound, Alaska, to Morro Bay, California (USA) (Williams 1986, Chapman et al 2012). The mudflat surface and centimeters away from the burrow linings, the sediments that Upogebia occupy are mainly suboxic and can be anoxic during ebbtide when physical irrigation is reduced (Johns et al 1997). The environment surrounding Upogebia burrows is dynamic in space and time, with the burrows serving as conduits that introduce oxygen and organic matter to radiating suboxic and sulfidic sediment zones. Observations suggest that densities of bacterial microflora in Upogebia burrow linings can be approximately 3 times greater than in the adjacent non-burrow sediment (Kinoshita et al 2003). The importance of these burrow-associated bacterial communities to the shrimp has remained uninvestigated
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