Inter- and intraspecific variations of bacterial communities associated with marine sponges from san juan island, washington.

ABSTRACT: This study attempted to assess whether conspecific or congeneric sponges around San Juan Island, Washington, harbor specific bacterial communities. We used a combination of culture-independent DNA fingerprinting techniques (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis [DGGE]) and culture-dependent approaches. The results indicated that the bacterial communities in the water column consisted of more diverse bacterial ribotypes than and were drastically different from those associated with the sponges. High levels of similarity in sponge-associated bacterial communities were found only in Myxilla incrustans and Haliclona rufescens, while the bacterial communities in Halichondria panicea varied substantially among sites. Certain terminal restri

SUBMITTER: Lee OO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2687283 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature