Bacteria on intertidal rockgrass in the North Atlantic

New sequencing methods are elucidating the relationship between marine bacteria and algae, as demonstrated by 15 scientists from various North Atlantic countries

Principal investigators Susan Brawley (UMaine School of Marine Sciences) professors and Hilary Morrison, senior scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, at the National Science Foundation (NSF) ), he led a team of researchers to conduct a large-scale study of bacteria associated with the intertidal fucus Fucus vesiculosus

The researchers found that bacterial communities on brown algae were similar between the latitudes of the eastern and western North Atlantic coasts, but between different hosts along a north-south gradient of biogeographical range—the western coast of Greenland, North Carolina, Spain in Eastern Atlantic and Norway

"Our study shows that bacterial community structure on this fucoid depends on current and past environments, including changes in the biogeographical extent of Fucus vesicullosus associated with past glacial cycles," Brawley said

Previous research has shown that bacteria are so important to the structure of the host that the algae can actually break down if given antibiotic treatment to get rid of the bacteria

"It's like a molecular fishing expedition to narrow our search for those bacteria that might be most important to algae," Brawley said

For example, the study revealed many unrecognized members of the bacterial genus Granulosicoccus by linking to specific tissues -- from the algae's surface-attached consolidations, to reproductive organs, to major photosynthetic tissues

"You have to understand who before you understand how and why," Brawley said

There were also some unexpected findings in the field study

"We don't know right now where the southern edge of the U.

Brawley isn't the only Umain-related researcher on the project

Leigh Stearns is also a doctoral candidate in geology and climate science at the University of Maine

The Journal of Psychology highlighted the research for this article and used a photo taken in Acadia National Park, which is part of the study's 16 North Atlantic field expeditions, on its December cover.

To compare bacterial communities, the researchers also compared the bacterial communities of two other species of brown algae on the coast of Maine -- Fucospira spiralis, found in the intertidal zone and Fucoid distichus in the low intertidal zone -- to see how their bacterial communities were compared to mid-zoned Fucoides Vesiculosus further north and south of Maine

Brawley noted that published and ongoing research "shows changes in the community structure of Fucus bacteria at annual, seasonal and latitudinal scales, helping to understand how sensitive the Fucus microbiome is to changing environments.

Journal Reference :

1. Kyle A.