TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria on deepwater corals of the northeast Atlantic using CARD-FISH
AU - Thompson, Haydn Frank
AU - Gutierrez, Tony
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a James-Watt Postgraduate Scholarship to H.F.T. and a Royal Society Research Grant ( RG140180 ) to T.G. We would like to thank the captain, crew and scientific participants of RRS James Cook cruise JC073 for their hard work and constant effort to accommodate our research needs. We especially thank Geoffrey Cook for providing his bespoke deepwater coral sampler and, together with Anne Cotton, for their invaluable assistance with the sampling and processing of the samples on board the ship. Funding for the JC073 cruise was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) UK Ocean Acidification (UKOA) research programme's Benthic Consortium project (NE/H017305/1) to John Murray Roberts. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments during the preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Recently, studies have begun to identify oil-degrading bacteria and host-taxon specific bacterial assemblages associated with the coral holobiont, including deep-sea cold-water corals, which are thought to provide metabolic functions and additional carbon sources to their coral hosts. Here, we describe the identification of Marinobacter on the soft tissue of Lophelia pertusa coral polyps by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH). L. pertusa samples from three reef sites in the northeast Atlantic (Logachev, Mingulay and Pisces) were collected at depth by vacuum seal to eliminate contamination issues. After decalcification, histological processing and sagittal sectioning of the soft coral polyp tissues, the 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide HRP-labelled probe Mrb-0625-a, and Cyanine 3 (Cy3)-labelled tyramides, were used to identify members of the hydrocarbon-degrading genus Marinobacter. Mrb-0625-a-hybridized bacterial cell signals were detected in different anatomical sites of all polyps collected from each of the three reef sites, suggesting a close, possibly intimate, association between them, but the purpose of which remains unknown. We posit that Marinobacter, and possibly other hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria associated with Lophelia, may confer the coral with the ability to cope with toxic levels of hydrocarbons in regions of natural oil seepage and where there is an active oil and gas industry presence.
AB - Recently, studies have begun to identify oil-degrading bacteria and host-taxon specific bacterial assemblages associated with the coral holobiont, including deep-sea cold-water corals, which are thought to provide metabolic functions and additional carbon sources to their coral hosts. Here, we describe the identification of Marinobacter on the soft tissue of Lophelia pertusa coral polyps by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH). L. pertusa samples from three reef sites in the northeast Atlantic (Logachev, Mingulay and Pisces) were collected at depth by vacuum seal to eliminate contamination issues. After decalcification, histological processing and sagittal sectioning of the soft coral polyp tissues, the 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide HRP-labelled probe Mrb-0625-a, and Cyanine 3 (Cy3)-labelled tyramides, were used to identify members of the hydrocarbon-degrading genus Marinobacter. Mrb-0625-a-hybridized bacterial cell signals were detected in different anatomical sites of all polyps collected from each of the three reef sites, suggesting a close, possibly intimate, association between them, but the purpose of which remains unknown. We posit that Marinobacter, and possibly other hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria associated with Lophelia, may confer the coral with the ability to cope with toxic levels of hydrocarbons in regions of natural oil seepage and where there is an active oil and gas industry presence.
KW - CARD-FISH
KW - Deepwater coral
KW - Holobiont
KW - Hydrocarbon
KW - Hydrocarbonoclastic
KW - Lophelia pertusa
KW - Marinobacter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109151110&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106277
DO - 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106277
M3 - Article
C2 - 34237402
SN - 0167-7012
VL - 187
JO - Journal of Microbiological Methods
JF - Journal of Microbiological Methods
M1 - 106277
ER -