title: Metagenomic analysis of healthy and white plague-affected Mussismilia braziliensis corals.
abstract: Coral health is under threat throughout the world due to regional and global stressors. White plague disease (WP) is one of the most important threats affecting the major reef builder of the Abrolhos Bank in Brazil, the endemic coral Mussismilia braziliensis. We performed a metagenomic analysis of healthy and WP-affected M. braziliensis in order to determine the types of microbes associated with this coral species. We also optimized a protocol for DNA extraction from coral tissues. Our taxonomic analysis revealed Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, and Actinomycetes as the main groups in all healthy and WP-affected corals. Vibrionales, members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides complex, Rickettsiales, and Neisseriales were more abundant in the WP-affected corals. Diseased corals also had more eukaryotic metagenomic sequences identified as Alveolata and Apicomplexa. Our results suggest that WP disease in M. braziliensis is caused by a polymicrobial consortium.
authors: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: Gizele D
authors: GD
authors: Garcia
authors: Gustavo B
authors: GB
authors: Gregoracci
authors: Eidy de O
authors: Ede O
authors: Santos
authors: Pedro M
authors: PM
authors: Meirelles
authors: Genivaldo G Z
authors: GG
authors: Silva
authors: Rob
authors: R
authors: Edwards
authors: Tomoo
authors: T
authors: Sawabe
authors: Kazuyoshi
authors: K
authors: Gotoh
authors: Shota
authors: S
authors: Nakamura
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Iida
authors: Rodrigo L
authors: RL
authors: de Moura
authors: Fabiano L
authors: FL
authors: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001938:Brazil; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D056186:Metagenomics