a3d85732-0ce1-484b-bd1d-4ed3aa598cab
16S amplicon sequences of bacteria associated with the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, at two farms in Ireland
A breakdown in host-bacteria relationships have been associated with the progression of a number of marine diseases and subsequent mortality events. For the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, Summer Mortality Syndrome (SMS) is one of the biggest constraints to growth of the sector and is set to expand into temperate systems as ocean temperatures rise. Currently, a lack of understanding of natural spatiotemporal dynamics of the host-bacteria relationship limits our ability to develop microbial based monitoring approaches. Here, we characterised the associated bacterial community of C. gigas, at two Irish oyster farms, unaffected by SMS, over the course of a year. We found C. gigas harboured spatiotemporally variable bacterial community that were distinct from bacterioplankton in surrounding seawater. Whilst the majority of bacteria-oyster associations were transient and highly variable, we observed clear patterns of stability in the form of a small core consisting of six persistent Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs). This core made up a disproportionately large contribution to sample abundance (34 ± 0.14 %), despite representing only 0.034% of diversity across the study, and have been associated with healthy oysters in other systems. Overall, our study demonstrates the consistent features of oyster bacterial communities across spatial and temporal scales and provides an ecologically meaningful baseline to track environmental change.
A breakdown in host-bacteria relationships have been associated with the progression of a number of marine diseases and subsequent mortality events. For the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, Summer Mortality Syndrome (SMS) is one of the biggest constraints to growth of the sector and is set to expand into temperate systems as ocean temperatures rise. Currently, a lack of understanding of natural spatiotemporal dynamics of the host-bacteria relationship limits our ability to develop microbial based monitoring approaches. Here, we characterised the associated bacterial community of C. gigas, at two Irish oyster farms, unaffected by SMS, over the course of a year. We found C. gigas harboured spatiotemporally variable bacterial community that were distinct from bacterioplankton in surrounding seawater. Whilst the majority of bacteria-oyster associations were transient and highly variable, we observed clear patterns of stability in the form of a small core consisting of six persistent Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs). This core made up a disproportionately large contribution to sample abundance (34 ± 0.14 %), despite representing only 0.034% of diversity across the study, and have been associated with healthy oysters in other systems. Overall, our study demonstrates the consistent features of oyster bacterial communities across spatial and temporal scales and provides an ecologically meaningful baseline to track environmental change.