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Culture independent characterization of bacteria associated with the mucus of the coral Acropora digitifera from the Gulf of Mannar

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Abstract

Corals are sessile eukaryotic hosts which provide a unique surface for microbial colonization. Culture independent studies show that the coral mucus and tissue harbour diverse and abundant prokaryotic communities. However, little is known about the diversity of bacteria associated with the corals of Gulf of Mannar. The present study characterised the bacterial diversity associated with the mucus of the coral Acropora digitifera from the Gulf of Mannar by 16S rRNA gene clone library construction. The bacterial communities of the mucus of A. digitifera were diverse, with representatives within the Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and several unclassified bacteria. The culture independent bacterial population was totally different from our previous culture dependent study of the mucus and tissue of the same coral. 36% of the bacteria in the clone library of A. digitifera were found to be novel after full length sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene wherein several clones were found to be novel at the Genus and species level. The current study further supports the findings that Actinobacteria amount to a certain proportion among bacterial communities associated with corals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Grant no. BT/PR3987/AAQ/03/198/2003. The authors gratefully acknowledge the computational and bioinformatics facility provided by the Alagappa University Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Grant no. BT/BI/25/001/2006). The financial support provided to P.N. by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (Grant no. BT/PR3987/AAQ/03/198/2003) in the form of a Research Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India

    Paramasivam Nithyanand, Thiruvalluvan Indhumathi, Arumugam Veera Ravi & Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian

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  1. Paramasivam Nithyanand
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  2. Thiruvalluvan Indhumathi
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  3. Arumugam Veera Ravi
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  4. Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
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Correspondence to Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian.

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Nithyanand, P., Indhumathi, T., Ravi, A.V. et al. Culture independent characterization of bacteria associated with the mucus of the coral Acropora digitifera from the Gulf of Mannar. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 27, 1399–1406 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0591-4

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