Antarctic Krill Are Reservoirs for Distinct Southern Ocean Microbial Communities.

ABSTRACT: Host-associated bacterial communities have received limited attention in polar habitats, but are likely to represent distinct nutrient-rich niches compared to the surrounding environment. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a super-abundant species with a circumpolar distribution, and the krill microbiome may make a substantial contribution to marine bacterial diversity in the Southern Ocean. We used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene to characterize bacterial diversity in seawater and krill tissue samples from four locations south of the Kerguelen Plateau, one of the most productive regions in the Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean. Krill-associated bacterial communities were distinct from those of the surrounding seawater, with different commun

SUBMITTER: Clarke LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6340936 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature