Journal
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
Volume 91, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiv064
Keywords
zooplankton; microbiome; amplicon pyrosequencing; Sargasso Sea
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation division of Ocean Sciences [1130495]
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- Division Of Ocean Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1130495] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Patchiness of marine microbial communities has an important influence on microbial activities in the ocean, particularly in the oligotrophic open ocean where bioavailable nutrients are otherwise scarce. Such spatial heterogeneity is present in associations with dead and living particles, including zooplankton. The microbial community composition of mesozooplankton was investigated from the Sargasso Sea using 16S rRNA amplicon pyrosequencing. Zooplankton microbiomes were studied on the copepods Undinula vulgaris, Pleuromamma spp., Sapphirina metalina, Pseudocalanus spp. and Tigriopus sp., and an amphipod, Phrosina semilunata. The overall richness was lower in the zooplankton than in the seawater, and zooplankton-specific bacterial communities were distinct from the communities in seawater. Gammaproteobacteria dominated in all zooplankton studied, with Vibrio spp. highly represented. Firmicutes were detected in all copepods, providing evidence for anaerobic conditions present on the copepods. Bacterial groups known to grow on concentrated organic substrates or to prevent biofouling were highly represented in association with copepods, suggesting they benefit from copepod-derived nutrients or carbon. The described copepod microbiome has similarities to communities previously described in coastal copepods, suggesting some aspects of the copepod microbiome are not habitat specific. The communities are distinct of that in seawater, demonstrating significant microbial patchiness in association with marine zooplankton in the oligotrophic open ocean.
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