"Assessing the ecological status of seagrasses using morphology, biochemical descriptors and microbial community analyses. A study in Halophila stipulacea meadows in the northern Red Sea. "

"This project aimed to identify differences in the epiphytic microbial communities associated with the seagrass Halophila stipulacea on 3 different meadows locealted in the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel. Microbial samples were collected from the leaves (aboveground plant compartment) and rhizomes and roots (belowground plant compartment) of the plants and analyzed by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene with 454 sequencing technology. The microbial community membership and structure was characterized, based on analysis of molecular variance, significant differences were observed in the microbial ommunity assemblages between the different plant compartments and among meadows (horizontal spatial differences). These results were also coupled with the plants ecophysiological responses and the environmental condition of the meadows. "