naa a22 4500 510746691 CHVBK 20180411083048.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s13199-012-0210-2 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s13199-012-0210-2 Microbial epibionts of the colonial ascidians Didemnum galacteum and Cystodytes sp [Elektronische Daten] [Francisca da Silva Oliveira, Geórgia Colares, Denise Hissa, Alysson Angelim, Vânia Melo, Tito Lotufo] Symbiosis with microorganisms has been well documented for many marine invertebrate taxa. However, knowledge of the diversity of microorganisms associated with ascidians is still limited. This study assessed the microbial epibionts of Didemnum galacteum and Cystodytes sp., two ascidian species collected from the western coast of Ceará state (Brazil), at Dois Coqueiros beach and the port of Pecém, respectively. The microbiota were examined using optical microscopy, followed by subsequent analysis of fingerprinting profiles obtained by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and 16S rRNA clone libraries. The microscopy analysis showed for both ascidians a community comprising cyanobacteria, mainly Prochloron-like species, and diatoms. The DGGE results indicated that D. galacteum hosts a more diverse microbiota when compared to Cystodytes sp. The same analysis also suggested that the diversity of the seawater microbiota was higher than the diversity of the ascidian-associated microbiota. The analysis of the 16S rRNA clone libraries revealed the dominance of Proteobacteria symbionts associated with both ascidians, with Alphaproteobacteria as the major component in D. galacteum and Gammaproteobacteria the major component in Cystodytes sp. The analysis of the clone libraries also revealed the presence of other taxa such as Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and uncultured bacteria in D. galacteum, but not in Cystodytes sp. Among the bacteria found to be exclusively associated with the ascidians, none were shared by the two studied hosts. The combined results point to a diverse microbiota associated with the external surface of the ascidians, with a mixed composition including organisms typically found in the surrounding seawater, but also a more specific set of taxa. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2012 Symbiosis nationallicence Ascidiacea nationallicence Microbiota nationallicence Brazil nationallicence da Silva Oliveira Francisca Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Pesca, Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60021-970, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Colares Geórgia Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Hissa Denise Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Angelim Alysson Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Melo Vânia Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Lotufo Tito Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Pesca, Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60021-970, Fortaleza, Brazil aut Symbiosis Springer Netherlands 59/1(2013-01-01), 57-63 0334-5114 59:1<57 2013 59 13199 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-012-0210-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-012-0210-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- da Silva Oliveira Francisca Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Pesca, Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60021-970, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Colares Geórgia Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hissa Denise Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Angelim Alysson Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Melo Vânia Laboratório de Ecologia Microbiana e Biotecnologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lotufo Tito Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Pesca, Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60021-970, Fortaleza, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Symbiosis Springer Netherlands 59/1(2013-01-01), 57-63 0334-5114 59:1<57 2013 59 13199 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer