This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Frias-Lopez, J.
Right arrow Articles by Fouke, B. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Frias-Lopez, J.
Right arrow Articles by Fouke, B. W.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Frias-Lopez, J.
Right arrow Articles by Fouke, B. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5955-5962, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5955-5962.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bacterial Community Associated with Black Band Disease in Corals

Jorge Frias-Lopez,* James S. Klaus, George T. Bonheyo, and Bruce W. Fouke

Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois

Received 16 April 2004/ Accepted 2 June 2004

Black band disease (BBD) is a virulent polymicrobial disease primarily affecting massive-framework-building species of scleractinian corals. While it has been well established that the BBD bacterial mat is dominated by a cyanobacterium, the quantitative composition of the BBD bacterial mat community has not described previously. Terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis was used to characterize the infectious bacterial community of the bacterial mat causing BBD. These analyses revealed that the bacterial composition of the BBD mat does not vary between different coral species but does vary when different species of cyanobacteria are dominant within the mat. On the basis of the results of a new method developed to identify organisms detected by T-RFLP analysis, our data show that besides the cyanobacterium, five species of the division Firmicutes, two species of the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides (CFB) group, and one species of {delta}-proteobacteria are also consistently abundant within the infectious mat. Of these dominant taxa, six were consistently detected in healthy corals. However, four of the six were found in much higher numbers in BBD mats than in healthy corals. One species of the CFB group and one species of Firmicutes were not always associated with the bacterial communities present in healthy corals. Of the eight dominant bacteria identified, two species were previously found in clone libraries obtained from BBD samples; however, these were not previously recognized as important. Furthermore, despite having been described as an important component of the pathogenetic mat, a Beggiatoa species was not detected in any of the samples analyzed. These results will permit the dominant BBD bacteria to be targeted for isolation and culturing experiments aimed at deciphering the disease etiology.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Geology, University of Illinois, 1301 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801. Phone: (217) 333-0672. Fax: (217) 244-4996. E-mail: friaslop{at}uiuc.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2004, p. 5955-5962, Vol. 70, No. 10
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.10.5955-5962.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sekar, R., Kaczmarsky, L. T., Richardson, L. L. (2009). Effect of Freezing on PCR Amplification of 16S rRNA Genes from Microbes Associated with Black Band Disease of Corals. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 2581-2584 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Myers, J. L., Sekar, R., Richardson, L. L. (2007). Molecular Detection and Ecological Significance of the Cyanobacterial Genera Geitlerinema and Leptolyngbya in Black Band Disease of Corals. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 5173-5182 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sekar, R., Mills, D. K., Remily, E. R., Voss, J. D., Richardson, L. L. (2006). Microbial Communities in the Surface Mucopolysaccharide Layer and the Black Band Microbial Mat of Black Band-Diseased Siderastrea siderea. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 5963-5973 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»