DNA from non-viable bacteria biases diversity estimates in the corals Acropora loripes and Pocillopora acuta.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Nucleic acid-based analytical methods have greatly expanded our understanding of global prokaryotic diversity, yet standard metabarcoding methods provide no information on the most fundamental physiological state of bacteria, viability. Scleractinian corals harbour a complex microbiome in which bacterial symbionts play critical roles in maintaining health and functioning of the holobiont. However, the coral holobiont contains both dead and living bacteria. The former can be the result of corals feeding on bacteria, rapid swings from hyper- to hypoxic conditions in the coral tissue, the presence of antimicrobial compounds in coral mucus, and an abundance of lytic bacteriophages.

Results

By combining propidium monoazide (PMA) treatment with high-throughput sequencin

SUBMITTER: Dungan AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10704692 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature