Bacterial communities associated with Porites white patch syndrome (PWPS) on three western Indian Ocean (WIO) coral reefs

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 31;8(12):e83746. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083746. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The scleractinian coral Porites lutea, an important reef-building coral on western Indian Ocean reefs (WIO), is affected by a newly-reported white syndrome (WS) the Porites white patch syndrome (PWPS). Histopathology and culture-independent molecular techniques were used to characterise the microbial communities associated with this emerging disease. Microscopy showed extensive tissue fragmentation generally associated with ovoid basophilic bodies resembling bacterial aggregates. Results of 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed a high variability between bacterial communities associated with PWPS-infected and healthy tissues in P. lutea, a pattern previously reported in other coral diseases such as black band disease (BBD), white band disease (WBD) and white plague diseases (WPD). Furthermore, substantial variations in bacterial communities were observed at the different sampling locations, suggesting that there is no strong bacterial association in Porites lutea on WIO reefs. Several sequences affiliated with potential pathogens belonging to the Vibrionaceae and Rhodobacteraceae were identified, mainly in PWPS-infected coral tissues. Among them, only two ribotypes affiliated to Shimia marina (NR043300.1) and Vibrio hepatarius (NR025575.1) were consistently found in diseased tissues from the three geographically distant sampling localities. The role of these bacterial species in PWPS needs to be tested experimentally.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Animals
  • Anthozoa / microbiology*
  • Bacteria / classification*
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bacterial Physiological Phenomena*
  • Biodiversity*
  • Coral Reefs*
  • DNA, Bacterial / genetics
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Indian Ocean / epidemiology
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Syndrome

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

This work was co-funded by the European Union (EU, FEDER), the Regional Council of Reunion, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (DRRT), the French Department of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation and Housing (DEAL), the South African Association for Marine Biological research (SAAMBR), the French Ministry of Overseas (MOM) and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association(WIOMSA). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.