Christina A. Kellogg
Cheryl L. Morrison
Michael A. Gray
Robert P. Stone
Rhian G. Waller
Sandra D. Brooke
Steve W. Ross
Dawn B. Goldsmith
2018
<p><span>Cold-water corals provide critical habitats for a multitude of marine species, but are understudied relative to tropical corals. </span><i>Primnoa pacifica</i><span> is a cold-water coral prevalent throughout Alaskan waters, while another species in the genus, </span><i>Primnoa resedaeformis</i><span>, is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This study examined the V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene after amplifying and pyrosequencing bacterial DNA from samples of these species. Key differences between the two species’ microbiomes included a robust presence of bacteria belonging to the Chlamydiales order in most of the </span><i>P. pacifica</i><span> samples, whereas no more than 2% of any microbial community from </span><i>P. resedaeformis</i><span>comprised these bacteria. Microbiomes of </span><i>P. resedaeformis</i><span> exhibited higher diversity than those of </span><i>P. pacifica</i><span>, and the two species largely clustered separately in a principal coordinate analysis. Comparison of </span><i>P. resedaeformis</i><span> microbiomes from samples collected in two submarine canyons revealed a significant difference between locations. This finding mirrored significant genetic differences among the </span><i>P. resedaeformis</i><span> from the two canyons based upon population genetic analysis of microsatellite loci. This study presents the first report of microbiomes associated with these two coral species.</span></p>
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10.1038/s41598-018-30901-z
en
Springer
Comparison of microbiomes of cold-water corals Primnoa pacifica and Primnoa resedaeformis, with possible link between microbiome composition and host genotype
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