Impact of parrotfish predation on coral health: changes in microbiome and pathogen defense
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Towner, Alexandra
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Abstract
Coral reefs are in rapid decline, and it is imperative to study reef community interactions
in order to mitigate and reverse this trajectory. This study explores the relationship between
corals and parrotfish, investigating how parrotfish bites on coral impact the composition of the
coral’s microbiome and the corals suppression of a common bacterial pathogen. Fragments of
Porites lobata coral colonies that were heavily predated by parrotfish or that showed no signs of
parrotfish predation were shaken in seawater, and this seawater was bioassayed against the
common coral pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus to assess the effects of previous predation on the
coral’s ability to suppress this ecologically relevant pathogen. Additionally, we sequenced the
16S rRNA gene from each coral sample to investigate possible alterations of the coral’s
microbiome due to predation. Neither alpha diversity nor beta diversity of the microbiome was
impacted by parrotfish predation. However, some bacteria were differentially abundant, such as
those of the genus Endozoicomonas. Bioassays of water in which coral fragments were agitated
detected no impact of previous parrotfish attack on the coral’s suppression of the pathogen
Vibrio coralliilyticus. Overall, this speaks to the resistance and strength that corals demonstrate
in the face of parrotfish predation.
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Date
2021-05
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Undergraduate Thesis