Establishing microbial baselines to identify indicators of coral reef health

Microorganisms make a significant contribution to reef ecosystem health and resilience via their critical role in mediating nutrient transformations, their interactions with macro-organisms and their provision of chemical cues that underpin the recruitment of diverse reef taxa. However, environmental changes often cause compositional and functional shifts in microbial communities that can have flow-on consequences for microbial-mediated processes. These microbial alterations may impact the health of specific host organisms and can have repercussions for the functioning of entire coral ecosystems. Assessing changes in reef microbial communities should therefore provide an early indicator of ecosystem impacts and would underpin the development of diagnostic tools that could help forecast shifts in coral reef health under different environmental states. Monitoring, management and active restoration efforts have recently intensified and diversified in response to global declines in coral reef health. Here we propose that regular monitoring of coral reef microorganisms could provide a rapid and sensitive platform for identifying declining ecosystem health that can complement existing management frameworks. By summarising the most common threats to coral reefs, with a particular focus on the Great Barrier Reef, and elaborating on the role of microbes in coral reef health and ecosystem stability, we highlight the diagnostic applicability of microbes in reef management programs. Fundamental to this objective is the establishment of microbial baselines for Australia's coral reefs.AIMS@JCU PhD Scholarship; GBRMPA Science Management Research Award; Advance Queensland PhD Scholarship; Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/110285/2015

Comparative genome-centric analysis reveals seasonal variation in the function of coral reef microbiomes

Microbially mediated processes contribute to coral reef resilience yet, despite extensive characterisation of microbial community variation following environmental perturbation, the effect on microbiome function is poorly understood. We undertook metagenomic sequencing of sponge, macroalgae and seawater microbiomes from a macroalgae-dominated inshore coral reef to define their functional potential and evaluate seasonal shifts in microbially mediated processes. In total, 125 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes were reconstructed, spanning 15 bacterial and 3 archaeal phyla. Multivariate analysis of the genomes relative abundance revealed changes in the functional potential of reef microbiomes in relation to seasonal environmental fluctuations (e.g. macroalgae biomass, temperature). For example, a shift from Alphaproteobacteria to Bacteroidota-dominated seawater microbiomes occurred during summer, resulting in an increased genomic potential to degrade macroalgal-derived polysaccharides. An 85% reduction of Chloroflexota was observed in the sponge microbiome during summer, with potential consequences for nutrition, waste product removal, and detoxification in the sponge holobiont. A shift in the Firmicutes:Bacteroidota ratio was detected on macroalgae over summer with potential implications for polysaccharide degradation in macroalgal microbiomes. These results highlight that seasonal shifts in the dominant microbial taxa alter the functional repertoire of host-associated and seawater microbiomes, and highlight how environmental perturbation can affect microbially mediated processes in coral reef ecosystems.Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science; Advance Queensland PhD Scholarship Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Management Award National Environmental Science Program (NESP)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Substrato para acondicionamento de estacas porta-borbulhas de cupuaçu - Theobroma grandiflorum (Spreng) Schum.

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Computer-Based Assessment of Non-Cognitive Attributes of Occupational Therapy Students: A Pilot Evaluation

Purpose: Holistic admissions tools have been considered for use to diversify student admissions. The ability to screen non-cognitive attributes of applicants is an important element of holistic admissions. The objective of this study was to establish instrument reliability, inter-rater reliability, validity, item discrimination, item difficulty, and bias of the Computerized Assessment of Non-Cognitive Attributes of Health Care Professionals (CANA-HP). Methods: A novel methodology was developed to screen non-cognitive attributes of health profession applicants. Using a cross-sectional design, a convenience sample of students invited for interviews into a Mid-western occupational therapy program were recruited for participation. The 37 participants who consented, completed a demographic survey followed by the 12 question CANA-HP. Results: Open-ended questions had adequate internal reliability, discrimination, and difficulty. Multiple choice questions had low reliability and discrimination. No correlation was found between the CANA-HP and standardized cognitive assessments, except non-science GPA which was significantly correlated to the total open-ended (essay) scores and total overall score. Conclusions and Recommendations: The CANA-HP was not biased toward individuals from varied demographic backgrounds. Predictive validity of this tool and non-cognitive measurements of success are still needed. Occupational therapists in educational settings could consider adding open-ended ethical questions to the application process when interviews are not feasible. Classes in the non-sciences and other non-cognitive markers of success may also help identify students with ‘grit’ and critical reasoning which are important to practicing clinician

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate in corals and its interrelations with bacterial assemblages in coral surface mucus

Corals produce copious amounts of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), a sulfur compound thought toplay a role in structuring coral-associated bacterial communities. We tested the hypothesis that a linkage exists betweenDMSP availability in coral tissues and the community dynamics of bacteria in coral surface mucus. We determinedDMSP concentrations in three coral species (Meandrina meandrites, Porites astreoides and Siderastrea siderea) at twosampling depths (5 and 25 m) and times of day (dawn and noon) at Curac¸ao, Southern Caribbean. DMSP concentration(4–409 nmol cm?2 coral surface) varied with host species-specific traits such as Symbiodinium cell abundance, but notwith depth or time of sampling. Exposure of corals to air caused a doubling of their DMSPconcentration. The phylogeneticaffiliation of mucus-associated bacteria was examined by clone libraries targeting three main subclades of the bacterialDMSP demethylase gene (dmdA). dmdA gene abundance was determined by quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction(qPCR) against a reference housekeeping gene (recA). Overall, a higher availability of DMSP corresponded to a lowerrelative abundance of the dmdA gene, but this pattern was not uniform across all host species or bacterial dmdA subclades,suggesting the existence of distinct DMSP microbial niches or varying dmdA DMSP affinities. This is the first studyquantifying dmdA gene abundance in corals and linking related changes in the community dynamics of DMSP-degradingbacteria to DMSP availability. Our study suggests that DMSP mediates the regulation of microbe

Microbial indicators of environmental perturbations in coral reef ecosystems

Background Coral reefs are facing unprecedented pressure on local and global scales. Sensitive and rapid markers for ecosystem stress are urgently needed to underpin effective management and restoration strategies. Although the fundamental contribution of microbes to the stability and functioning of coral reefs is widely recognised, it remains unclear how different reef microbiomes respond to environmental perturbations and whether microbiomes are sensitive enough to predict environmental anomalies that can lead to ecosystem stress. However, the lack of coral reef microbial baselines hinders our ability to study the link between shifts in microbiomes and ecosystem stress. In this study, we established a comprehensive microbial reference database for selected Great Barrier Reef sites to assess the diagnostic value of multiple free-living and host-associated reef microbiomes to infer the environmental state of coral reef ecosystems. Results A comprehensive microbial reference database, originating from multiple coral reef microbiomes (i.e. seawater, sediment, corals, sponges and macroalgae), was generated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing for 381 samples collected over the course of 16 months. By coupling this database to environmental parameters, we showed that the seawater microbiome has the greatest diagnostic value to infer shifts in the surrounding reef environment. In fact, 56% of the observed compositional variation in the microbiome was explained by environmental parameters, and temporal successions in the seawater microbiome were characterised by uniform community assembly patterns. Host-associated microbiomes, in contrast, were five-times less responsive to the environment and their community assembly patterns were generally less uniform. By applying a suite of indicator value and machine learning approaches, we further showed that seawater microbial community data provide an accurate prediction of temperature and eutrophication state (i.e. chlorophyll concentration and turbidity). Conclusion Our results reveal that free-living microbial communities have a high potential to infer environmental parameters due to their environmental sensitivity and predictability. This highlights the diagnostic value of microorganisms and illustrates how long-term coral reef monitoring initiatives could be enhanced by incorporating assessments of microbial communities in seawater. We therefore recommend timely integration of microbial sampling into current coral reef monitoring initiatives.We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Marine Microbes(MM) and Biomes of Australian Soil Environments (BASE) projects, throughthe Australian Microbiome Initiative in the generation of data used in thispublication. The Australian Microbiome Initiative is supported by fundingfrom Bioplatforms Australia through the Australian Government NationalCollaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). The study was furtherfunded by the Advance Queensland PhD Scholarship, the Great Barrier ReefMarine Park Authority Management Award and a National EnvironmentalScience Program (NESP) grant awarded to BG.The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis,decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Urine as a social signal in the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)

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Microbial surface biofilm responds to the growth-reproduction-senescence cycle of the dominant coral reef macroalgae Sargassum spp.

Macroalgae play an intricate role in microbial-mediated coral reef degradation processes due to the release of dissolved nutrients. However, temporal variabilities of macroalgal surface biofilms and their implication on the wider reef system remain poorly characterized. Here, we study the microbial biofilm of the dominant reef macroalgae Sargassum over a period of one year at an inshore Great Barrier Reef site (Magnetic Island, Australia). Monthly sampling of the Sargassum biofilm links the temporal taxonomic and putative functional metabolic microbiome changes, examined using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, to the pronounced growth-reproduction-senescence cycle of the host. Overall, the macroalgal biofilm was dominated by the heterotrophic phyla Firmicutes (35% ± 5.9% SD) and Bacteroidetes (12% ± 0.6% SD); their relative abundance ratio shifted significantly along the annual growth-reproduction-senescence cycle of Sargassum. For example, Firmicutes were 1.7 to 3.9 times more abundant during host growth and reproduction cycles than Bacteroidetes. Both phyla varied in their carbohydrate degradation capabilities; hence, temporal fluctuations in the carbohydrate availability are potentially linked to the observed shift. Dominant heterotrophic macroalgal biofilm members, such as Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, are implicated in exacerbating or ameliorating the release of dissolved nutrients into the ambient environment, though their contribution to microbial-mediated reef degradation processes remains to be determined.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio