title: Water flow buffers shifts in bacterial community structure in heat-stressed Acropora muricata.
abstract: Deterioration of coral health and associated change in the coral holobiont's bacterial community are often a result of different environmental stressors acting synergistically. There is evidence that water flow is important for a coral's resistance to elevated seawater temperature, but there is no information on how water flow affects the coral-associated bacterial community under these conditions. In a laboratory cross-design experiment, Acropora muricata nubbins were subjected to interactive effects of seawater temperature (27 °C to 31 °C) and water flow (0.20 m s-1and 0.03 m s-1). In an in situ experiment, water flow manipulation was conducted with three colonies of A. muricata during the winter and summer, by partially enclosing each colony in a clear plastic mesh box. 16S rRNA amplicon pyrosequencing showed an increase in the relative abundance of Flavobacteriales and Rhodobacterales in the laboratory experiment, and Vibrio spp. in the in situ experiment when corals were exposed to elevated temperature and slow water flow. In contrast, corals that were exposed to faster water flow under laboratory and in situ conditions had a stable bacterial community. These findings indicate that water flow plays an important role in the maintenance of specific coral-bacteria associations during times of elevated thermal stress.
authors.affiliation: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.|Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
authors.forename: Sonny T M
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Simon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Davy
authors.affiliation: Microbial Lab, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sen-Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Kench
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D044822:Biodiversity; D004777:Environment; D006358:Hot Temperature; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000379:methods; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013559:Symbiosis; D013696:Temperature; D014733:Vibrio / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics