Microbial Communities Associated with Skeletal Tumors on Porites compressa

Mya Breitbart, Ranjeet Bhagooli, Sean Griffin, Ian Johnston, Forest Rohwer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Coral tumors are atypical skeletal forms found on coral reefs worldwide. Here we present an analysis of the microbial communities associated with skeletal tumors on the coral Porites compressa . Microbial growth rates on both healthy and tumorous P. compressa were decoupled from the surrounding water column. Microbial communities associated with tumorous colonies had a significantly faster growth rate than those associated with healthy P. compressa . The microbial community associated with the tumors contained more culturable Vibrio spp. and could utilize more carbon sources than the microbes associated with healthy colonies. Presence of tumors affected the composition and dynamics of the microbial population associated with the entire colony.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalFEMS Microbiology Letters
Volume243
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2005

Keywords

  • Coral
  • Skeletal tumor
  • Microbe
  • Bacteria
  • Vibrio
  • Growth rate

Disciplines

  • Life Sciences

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