Composition and dynamics of the gill microbiota of an invasive Indo‐Pacific oyster in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Gill bacterial communities of Chama pacifica, an Indo-Pacific invasive oyster to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, were compared with those of Chama savignyi, its northern Red Sea congeneric species. Summer and winter bacterial populations were characterized and compared using 16S rDNA clone libraries, and seasonal population dynamics were monitored by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA). Clone libraries revealed a specific clade of bacteria, closely related to marine endosymbionts from the Indo-Pacific, found in both ecosystems, of which one taxon was conserved in oysters from both sites. This taxon was dominant in summer libraries and was weakly present in winter ones, where other members of this group were dominant. ARISA results revealed significant seasonal variation in bacterial populations of Mediterranean Sea oysters, as opposed to Red Sea ones that were stable throughout the year. We suggest that this conserved association between bacteria and oyster reflects either a symbiosis between the oyster host and some of its bacteria, a co-invasion of both parties, or both.

Description of Endozoicomonas euniceicola sp. nov. and Endozoicomonas gorgoniicola sp. nov., bacteria isolated from the octocorals Eunicea fusca and Plexaura sp., and an emended description of the genus Endozoicomonas

“…Numerous cultureindependent studies of marine invertebrates have shown similar dominance of members of Endozoicomonas (often incorrectly referred to as the uncharacterized genus 'Spongiobacter' or simply referred to as gammaproteobacteria clones) (e.g. Bellantuono et al, 2012;Bourne & Munn, 2005;Bourne et al, 2008;Cooney et al, 2002;Hansson et al, 2009;Jackson et al, 2012;Kennedy et al, 2008;Kvennefors et al, 2010;Lee et al, 2012;Littman et al, 2009;Lopez et al, 2008;Menezes et al, 2010;Morrow et al, 2012;Pike et al, 2012;Rohwer et al, 2001;Schuett et al, 2007;Zurel et al, 2011). Previous studies have demonstrated that coralassociated Endozoicomonas strains probably contribute to the degradation of sulfur compounds [e.g.…”

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Pacific Oyster Hemolymph Microbiota across Multiple Scales

“…Similar studies regarding host-associated microbiota are almost exclusively limited to humans, (e.g., Caporaso et al, 2011; David et al, 2014; DiGiulio et al, 2015), and a handful of model organisms (e.g., Fink et al, 2013; Marino et al, 2014). Whereas temporal patterns have been studied in non-model organisms, the focus remains on the population level and the sampling resolution usually coincides with significant host/environment-related shifts: developmental (e.g., Trabal et al, 2012; Hroncova et al, 2015), seasonal (e.g., Zurel et al, 2011; Bjork et al, 2013; Ransome et al, 2014) or abiotic disturbances (e.g., Vega Thurber et al, 2009; Wegner et al, 2013; Tracy et al, 2015). Longitudinal, individual-based, repeated-measure studies remain scarce (but see Pratte et al, 2015; Glasl et al, 2016).…”

Disturbance induced decoupling between host genetics and composition of the associated microbiome

“…Microbial communities residing in different organs of several oyster species have only recently been described by using molecular, culture independent techniques [15-17] that allow intra- and interspecies comparisons [18] and the exploration of environmental factors, such as temperature [19]. For example, oysters invading the Mediterranean from the Indian ocean maintained some of their associated microbes throughout the invasion process [18].…”