The microbial community associated with Cliona celata in different states: healthy, fouled and necrotic.. Skomer MCZ Cliona disease study

Between 2012 - 2015 several incidents of sponge disease were observed around the Skomer Marine Conservation Zone (Wales, UK). The cause of this is unknown but samples were taken from healthy sponges, sponges with extensive fouling growth (indicating a compromised immunity) and black, apparently necrotic sponges. The V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and used for metagenomic barcoding of the microbial communites (Illumnia MiSeq platform).