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. 2019 Aug 16:10:1775.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01775. eCollection 2019.

Temporal Variation in the Microbiome of Acropora Coral Species Does Not Reflect Seasonality

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Temporal Variation in the Microbiome of Acropora Coral Species Does Not Reflect Seasonality

Hannah E Epstein et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

The coral microbiome is known to fluctuate in response to environmental variation and has been suggested to vary seasonally. However, most studies to date, particularly studies on bacterial communities, have examined temporal variation over a time frame of less than 1 year, which is insufficient to establish if microbiome variations are indeed seasonal in nature. The present study focused on expanding our understanding of long-term variability in microbial community composition using two common coral species, Acropora hyacinthus, and Acropora spathulata, at two mid-shelf reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. By sampling over a 2-year time period, this study aimed to determine whether temporal variations reflect seasonal cycles. Community composition of both bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae was characterized through 16S rRNA gene and ITS2 rDNA metabarcoding. We observed significant variations in community composition of both bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae among time points for A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata. However, there was no evidence to suggest that temporal variations were cyclical in nature and represented seasonal variation. Clear evidence for differences in the microbial communities found between reefs suggests that reef location and coral species play a larger role than season in driving microbial community composition in corals. In order to identify the basis of temporal patterns in coral microbial community composition, future studies should employ longer time series of sampling at sufficient temporal resolution to identify the environmental correlates of microbiome variation.

Keywords: GBR; Symbiodiniaceae; bacteria; coral microbiome; metabarcoding; season; temporal variation.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Average monthly temperatures from both Rib and Davies reef from January 2014 – December 2015. Black arrows indicate sampling time points.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Alpha diversity based on the Shannon Diversity Index for bacterial communities through time for A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata at Rib and Davies reef.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Mean relative abundance of bacterial classes through time for both A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata at Rib and Davies reef. Classes in bold represent those that are in highest relative abundance.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
NMDS plots of bacterial communities for both A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata at Rib and Davies reef. Arrows representing time point were fit and scaled by constrained correspondence analysis (CCA). p-values in the lower right-hand corner of each nMDS plot represent PERMANOVA results.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Alpha diversity based on the Shannon Diversity index for Symbiodiniaceae communities through time for both A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata at Rib and Davies reef.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Mean relative abundance of Symbiodiniaceae sequence sub-types through time for both A. hyacinthus and A. spathulata at Rib and Davies reef.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Correlation matrix of both bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae for A. hyacinthus from Rib reef (below the diagonal line) and Davies reef (above the diagonal line). Bacterial taxa represent ASVs classified to genus where possible, and Symbiodiniaceae are represented by genus and sub-type. Positive correlations are represented in blue and negative correlations are represented in red, where both the size and the color of the dots represent the strength of the correlation. Black rings represent significant positive or negative correlations (p < 0.05).
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Correlation matrix of both bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae for A. spathulata from Rib (below the diagonal line) and Davies reef (above the diagonal line). Bacterial taxa represent ASVs classified to genus where possible, and Symbiodiniaceae are represented by genus and sub-type. Positive correlations are represented in blue and negative correlations are represented in red, where both the size and the color of the dots represent the strength of the correlation. Black rings represent significant positive or negative correlations (p < 0.05).

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