title: Spatial distribution of the culturable bacterial community associated with the invasive alga Caulerpa cylindracea in the Mediterranean Sea.
abstract: Understanding the mechanisms underlying the complex seaweed-bacteria associations in nature may provide information on the fitness of an invasive host. This may require the use of different approaches. In this study, we employed, for the first time, the Biolog system-Ecoplates™ to analyze the functional diversity of the culturable fraction of the bacterial assemblages associated with the surface of Caulerpa cylindracea, the invasive seaweed of the Mediterranean Sea. Seaweed samples were collected at five sites across the basin. A high similarity in the bacterial activity, expressed as Average Well Color Development (AWCD), among the study sites was observed. Culturable heterotrophic bacteria at 22 °C showed mean values ranging from 1.4 × 105CFU g-1at Porto Cesareo (Ionian Sea, Italy) to 5.8 × 106CFU g-1at Othonoi, Diapontine Island (Ionian Sea, Greece). The analysis of the DNA sequences on isolated bacteria demonstrated that the genera Shewanella, Marinobacter, Vibrio, Granulosicoccus and the family Rhodobacteraceae are consistently present on C. cylindracea, irrespective of its geographical origin. The present study provided new insights into the complex association between bacteria and this algal species, suggesting a specific composition and function of the associated culturable bacteria across the basin.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, Lecce, Italy; Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, U.O.S. di Taranto, CNR, Via Roma 3, Taranto, Italy. Electronic address: loredana.stabili@iamc.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stabili
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, Lecce, Italy; Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, Italy; CoNISMa - Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pizzolante
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alifano
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, Lecce, Italy; CoNISMa - Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraschetti
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D046068:Caulerpa / Q000382:microbiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Alien seaweeds; Bioinvasions; Biolog assay; Culturable heterotrophic bacteria; Functional diversity; Metabolic profiles