A Tight Interaction between the Native Seagrass Cymodocea nodosa and the Exotic Halophila stipulacea in the Aegean Sea Highlights Seagrass Holobiont Variations.

ABSTRACT: Seagrasses harbour bacterial communities with which they constitute a functional unit called holobiont that responds as a whole to environmental changes. Epiphytic bacterial communities rapidly respond to both biotic and abiotic factors, potentially contributing to the host fitness. The Lessepsian migrant Halophila stipulacea has a high phenotypical plasticity and harbours a highly diverse epiphytic bacterial community, which could support its invasiveness in the Mediterranean Sea. The current study aimed to evaluate the Halophila/Cymodocea competition in the Aegean Sea by analysing each of the two seagrasses in a meadow zone where these intermingled, as well as in their monospecific zones, at two depths. Differences in holobionts were evaluated using seagrass descript

SUBMITTER: Conte C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9863530 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature