Bacterial microbiota associated with the coelomic fluid of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. sea urchin metagenome

For the first time the composition of the microbiota in the coelomic fluid of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus was described by using a combination of 16S rRNA gene amplicon-based Next Generation Sequencing technology and culturing of available isolates, thus assessing the specific association of unique bacterial communities to the coelomic fluid. In particular, the predominance of taxa belonging to Proteobacteria, Bacteriodetes and Fusobacteria phyla, which have been frequently found to be associated to other marine animals, was reported. These findings not only highlight the selective distribution of the microbial populations associated with the sea urchins, but also could be helpful for the improvement of the aquaculture conditions of echinoderms.