Bacterial community structure in the soft coral, Alcyonium antarcticum from Antarctica

The structure and composition of microbial communities inhabiting the soft coral Alcyonium antarcticum were investigated across 3 differentially contaminated sites within McMurdo Sound, Antarctica - McMurdo Station (MM), Scott Base (SB) and Cape Armitage (CA).Samples from all sites were subjected to culture-based analysis, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), 16S rRNA gene clone-library analysis, and (FISH).Phylogenetic groups included Gamma-, Alpha- and Beta- proteobacteria; Bacteroidetes; Firmicutes; Actinomycetales; Planctomycetes; and Chlorobi and bacteria from the functional group of sulfate-reducing bacteria. To investigate the structure and composition of microbial communities inhabiting the soft coral Alcyonium antarcticum.To examine any variation within and between Alcyonium antarcticum bacterial communities from 3 differentially contaminated sites within McMurdo Sound, Antarctica . This was the first investigation of microbial communities associated with Antarctic soft corals.Accession numbers assigned to sequencing products: Culture1-Culture10 (DG312224, DG312225, DG312226, DG312227, DG312228, DG312229, DG312230, DG312231, DG312232, DG312233); OTU1-OTU15 (DG312234, DG312235, DG312236, DG312237, DG312238, DG312239, DG312240, DG312241, DG312242, DG312243, DG312244, DG312245, DG312246, DG312247, DG312248); DGGE Band1-Band11, (DG312249, DG312250, DG312251, DG312252, DG312253, DG312254, DG312255, DG312256, DG312257, DG312258) and Band14-Band16 (DG312259, DG312260, DG312261).

本研究针对南极麦克默多湾（McMurdo Sound）内3处不同污染程度的采样位点——麦克默多站（McMurdo Station, MM）、斯科特基地（Scott Base, SB）与阿默蒂奇角（Cape Armitage, CA），对栖息于软珊瑚南极海鸡冠（Alcyonium antarcticum）的微生物群落结构与组成展开调查。
所有采样位点的样本均采用基于培养的分析方法、变性梯度凝胶电泳（denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, DGGE）、16S rRNA基因克隆文库分析以及荧光原位杂交（fluorescence in situ hybridization, FISH）进行检测。
所涉及的系统发育类群包含γ-、α-、β-变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）、厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）、放线菌目（Actinomycetales）、浮霉菌门（Planctomycetes）、绿菌门（Chlorobi）以及硫酸盐还原菌功能类群细菌。
本研究旨在明确栖息于南极海鸡冠的微生物群落结构与组成；同时探究南极麦克默多湾内3处不同污染程度采样位点的南极海鸡冠细菌群落内部及群落间的差异，这亦是全球范围内首次针对南极软珊瑚相关微生物群落的调查研究。
本次研究为各测序产物分配的登录号如下：培养物1至培养物10对应DG312224、DG312225、DG312226、DG312227、DG312228、DG312229、DG312230、DG312231、DG312232、DG312233；操作分类单元1至操作分类单元15（Operational Taxonomic Unit, OTU）对应DG312234、DG312235、DG312236、DG312237、DG312238、DG312239、DG312240、DG312241、DG312242、DG312243、DG312244、DG312245、DG312246、DG312247、DG312248；DGGE条带1至条带11对应DG312249、DG312250、DG312251、DG312252、DG312253、DG312254、DG312255、DG312256、DG312257、DG312258；条带14至条带16对应DG312259、DG312260、DG312261。