Abstract:
Invertebrates are known to be associated with diverse
bacterial population, however, very little is known about the structure,
composition and maintenance of these bacterial communities. In the current
study, we characterize the culturable bacterial community associated with
gorgorian coral Eunicea fusca. This was achieved using culture-based
methods and molecular techniques for the identification of the bacterial
isolates. The culturable heterotrophic bacterial community of this coral
is composed mainly of the bacterial groups Alphaproteobacteria (65.5%),
Gammaproteobacteria (20.7%), Betaproteobacteria (6.9%), Cytophaga-Flexibacter
Bacteroids (3.4%) and Firmicutes (3.4%). This study provides evidence
of specific bacterial association with the coral in comparison to bacterial
community in the coral surrounding seawater. Furthermore, bacterial isolation
using oligotrophic conditions,. at slightly alkaline pH, was found to
increase the culturability and diversity of Eunicea fusca associated
bacteria.
Abdelnasser S.S. Ibrahim , 2008. Diversity of Coral Eunicea fusca Associated Bacteria Using Culture Dependent Techniques. Research Journal of Microbiology, 3: 614-621.
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