Macroalgal Morphology affects composition and settlement of microbial communities

Macroalgae (seaweeds) have an intimate relationship with their microbial symbionts. Microbial communities associated with macroalgal surfaces (epibiota) are generally host-specific and, historically, there has been great interest in the role of biological compounds and chemical warfare in microbial community assembly on seaweeds. However, the interaction between seaweeds and their environment may also influence community assembly of their microbiota. In this experiment, I ask whether the interaction between water flow and seaweed morphology affects the settlement and structure of microbial biofilms. I test whether three common algal morphologies select for differential biofilm communities using artificial macro algae units (AM units) made out of latex. I find that morphology does affect initial microbial settlement and community structure, but that eventual dominance of substrate specialists (in our case, a latex degrader) swamps the influence of morphology in long-term biofilms.

Identifier
Source https://data.blue-cloud.org/search-details?step=~012A61409696709688D0FC3A0BDBFB51040C6F677E3
Metadata Access https://data.blue-cloud.org/api/collections/A61409696709688D0FC3A0BDBFB51040C6F677E3
Provenance
Instrument Illumina MiSeq; ILLUMINA
Publisher Blue-Cloud Data Discovery & Access service; ELIXIR-ENA
Publication Year 2024
OpenAccess true
Contact blue-cloud-support(at)maris.nl
Representation
Discipline Marine Science
Spatial Coverage (-128.130W, 49.292S, -122.890E, 51.655N)
Temporal Coverage Begin 2016-03-01T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2016-08-01T00:00:00Z