Western Indian Ocean coral reef microbial diversity

Microbial communities play central roles in ecosystem functioning. Microbes are also known to be critical for coral nutrition, homeostasis and protection against diseases. Shifts in population composition of coral-associated microorganisms often correlate with the onset of diseases and coral-bleaching, confirming their role in coral health and, therefore, the stability of reef ecosystems. Characterizing microorganisms and their ecological niches is important in clarifying their roles and the environmental conditions they respond to. This understanding is especially critical currently in the face of increasing climatic and human-related threats on marine ecosystems leading to a significant loss in biodiversity and ecosystem function. This preliminary report previews the first description of coastal Western Indian Ocean microorganisms identified by sequencing 16S rRNA gene from seawater and sediment samples. These samples were used for the optimization of microbial DNA isolation for a metagenomic study aimed at profiling the coral reef microbiome of the same region.

微生物群落（Microbial Communities）在生态系统功能中发挥核心作用。已知微生物对于珊瑚的营养供给、内稳态维持以及病害防御均至关重要。珊瑚相关微生物的种群组成变化往往与疾病暴发及珊瑚白化现象密切相关，这证实了其在珊瑚健康乃至珊瑚礁生态系统稳定性中的关键作用。解析微生物及其生态位（ecological niches），有助于明确其功能与所响应的环境条件。当前，海洋生态系统正面临日益加剧的气候与人为威胁，导致生物多样性与生态系统功能大幅丧失，因此理解微生物的作用尤为关键。本初步报告首次介绍了通过对海水与沉积物样本的16S核糖体RNA基因（16S rRNA gene）进行测序所鉴定得到的西印度洋沿岸海域微生物。上述样本被用于优化微生物DNA提取流程，以支撑一项旨在解析该区域珊瑚礁微生物组（microbiome）的宏基因组研究。