Coral Reef Bacterial Communities
Tropical coral reefs form some of the richest ecosystems on Earth. Though representing less than 0.1% of the total ocean surface, coral reefs host approximately 25% of all marine species. Along with their high biodiversity, coral reefs support the livelih
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Coral Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 What Comprises a Coral Reef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Functional Importance of Coral Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Reefs Under Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Diversity and Functional Roles of Prokaryotic Communities on Coral Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Prokaryotic Diversity of Reef Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Prokaryotic Diversity of Coral Reef Waters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Planktonic Cyanobacteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Other Bacterioplankton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 The Coral Microbiome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Coral Bacterial Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Functional Role of Coral Bacterial Communities . . . 169 Non-coral Invertebrate Prokaryotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Specificity of Microbial-Host Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Environmental Stress Shifting Diversity and Function of Coral Reef Prokaryotic Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Disease in Coral Reef Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Coral Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Diseases of Other Reef Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Future Directions and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Coral Reefs What Comprises a Coral Reef Tropical coral reefs are a complex ecosystem consisting of a vast array of animals, plants, microorganisms, and viruses which represent the largest structures of biological origin on the planet (Sebens 1994). The fundamental three-dimensional structure of a reef is due to Scleractinian corals which represent the largest order within the phylum Cnidaria (Daly et al. 2003). Through the deposition of calcium carbonate in their skeletons, these organisms are responsible for laying the foundations of, and building up, reef structures (see > Fig. 10.1a). Reef-building corals which deposit aragonite and contribute to coral reef development are termed hermatypic corals, though many other coral species are ahermatypic, i.e., non-reef building. Most Scleractinian corals are colonial organisms composed of thousands of individuals, called polyps, connected by living tissue (Barnes 1987; Lalli and Parsons 1995). Each polyp has a cuplike shape with a ring of tentacles around a central
opening tipped with stinging cells for defense and to capture zooplankton for heterotrophic feeding. The majority of the corals energy reserves, however, are supplied through a close symbiotic relationship with phyotosynthetic microalgae (Symbiodinium, commonly referred to as zooxanthellae) that reside in the corals gastrodermal c
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