Sea urchin larvae decipher the epiphytic bacterial community composition when selecting sites for attachment and metamorphosis

FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Shaun J NielsenP D Steinberg

Abstract

Most marine invertebrates have dispersive larvae and relatively immobile adults. These developmental stages are linked by a settlement event, which is often mediated by specific cues in bacterial biofilms. While larvae distinguish between biofilms from different environments, it remains unknown if they receive information from all, only a few or even just a single bacterial species in natural biofilms. Here we asked how specific is larval settlement to the bacterial community structure and/or taxonomically distinguishable groups of bacteria in epiphytic marine biofilms? We used novel multivariate statistical approaches to investigate if larval settlement of two sea urchins correlated with the microbial community composition. Larval settlement of Heliocidaris erythrogramma revealed a strong correlation with the community composition, highlighted by canonical analysis of principle components, a constrained ordination technique. Using this technique, the importance of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) within communities relative to larval settlement was investigated. Larval settlement not only correlated, both positively and negatively, with the epiphytic bacterial community composition but also with the relative abundance of few...Continue Reading

References

Feb 10, 2004·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Nicole S WebsterAndrew P Negri
Jun 17, 2004·The Biological Bulletin·Rebecca L SwansonPeter D Steinberg
May 23, 2014·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Jennifer M SneedValerie J Paul

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Citations

Mar 27, 2018·Environmental Microbiology·Megan J HuggettRachele Bernasconi
Jan 26, 2020·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Sergey Dobretsov, Daniel Rittschof
Sep 10, 2020·Annual Review of Microbiology·Giselle S CavalcantiNicholas J Shikuma
Jun 13, 2017·Frontiers in Microbiology·Alan W Decho, Tony Gutierrez

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