Microbial diversity associated to Undaria pinnatifida exudates

The invasive seaweed Undaria pinnatifida has spread from northeastern Asia to temperate coastal environments around the world, with profound effects on these coastal ecosystems. In addition to the biomass that decays each year, these seaweeds continuously release exudates that are an additional source of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in coastal waters. In this work, we analyzed in experimental systems the effect of exudates from U. pinnatifida on the seawater properties from a coastal site of Golfo Nuevo (Argentina), where this species was first detected in 1992. After a 7-day incubation of fresh seawater with the exudates, changes in microbial community structure were analyzed by large-scale 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.