Epiphytic bacterial communities of Macrocystis pyrifera in experimental conditions

In this study, the structure and function of the epiphytic bacterial communities of the kelp Macrocystis pyrifera was analyzed in experimental conditions with contrasting nitrogen concentrations (i.e. High and Low), and we evaluated kelp growth responses and changes in three specific molecular markers associated with the N-cycle, both in epiphytic bacteria (e.g. nrfA-gene: Cytochrome c nitrite reductase) and macroalgae (e.g. NR-gene: Nitrate reductase; GluSyn-gene: Glutamate synthase). Bacterial diversity was estimated based on the V1 - V3 regions of the 16S rRNA gene, and nrfA gene was analyzed using the oligonucleotide sets F1 (5´-GCNTGYTGGWSNTGYAA-3) and 7R1 (5´- TWNGGCATRTGRCARTC-3) (Mohan et al., 2004) by Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform.