The bacterial microbiome (16S rRNA) in tissues of the Caribbean gorgonian corals Eunicea flexuosa and Pseudoplexaura porosa

This study characterized the bacterial microbiome in uninjured and injured branches of the gorgonian corals Eunicea flexuosa and Pseudoplexaura porosa. Six colonies of each gorgonian species were sampled. To simulate injury, tissue was removed from one side of one branch per colony. The resulting lesion was 10 cm long and approximately half the width of the branch. After the wound had partially healed, the injured and a separate uninjured branch from the same colony were collected. For each gorgonian colony, DNA was extracted from tissue of the uninjured branch, and in the injured branch, from tissue at the lesion and uninjured tissue adjacent to the lesion on the other side of the branch. The V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified, and sequenced using the Illumina Mi-Seq platform.