Increased DMSP availability during thermal stress influences DMSP-degrading bacteria in coral mucus

Gardner, SGG; Nitschke, MRR; O'Brien, J; Motti, CAA; Seymour, JRR; Ralph, PJJ; Petrou, K; Raina, J-B

Increased DMSP availability during thermal stress influences DMSP-degrading bacteria in coral mucus

Gardner, SGG Nitschke, MRR O'Brien, J Motti, CAA Seymour, JRR Ralph, PJJ Petrou, K

Raina, J-B

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Publisher:: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, 2022, 9
Issue Date:: 2022-09-09

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Gardner, SGG
dc.contributor.author	Nitschke, MRR
dc.contributor.author	O'Brien, J
dc.contributor.author	Motti, CAA
dc.contributor.author	Seymour, JRR
dc.contributor.author	Ralph, PJJ
dc.contributor.author	Petrou, K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2703-0694
dc.contributor.author	Raina, J-B
dc.date.accessioned	2022-11-03T06:16:19Z
dc.date.available	2022-11-03T06:16:19Z
dc.date.issued	2022-09-09
dc.identifier.citation	FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, 2022, 9
dc.identifier.issn	2296-7745
dc.identifier.issn	2296-7745
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/163204
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>Reef-building corals are among the largest producers of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), an essential compound in marine biogeochemical cycles. DMSP can be catabolised in coral mucus by a wide diversity of coral-associated bacteria, where it can either be demethylated, leading to the incorporation of sulfur and carbon into bacterial biomass – or cleaved by lyases, releasing the climatically-active gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). It has been demonstrated that thermal stress increases DMSP concentrations in many coral species, however the effect of increased DMSP availability on coral-associated bacteria has not been explored. Here we performed thermal stress experiments to examine how changes in DMSP availability impact bacterial degradation pathways in the mucus of <jats:italic>Acropora millepora</jats:italic>. DMSP concentrations increased with temperature, reaching a maximum of 177.3 μM after 10 days of heat stress, which represents the highest concentration of DMSP recorded in any environment to date. Bacterial communities in coral mucus were significantly different from the surrounding seawater, yet they did not vary significantly between temperature or time. However, during thermal stress, when DMSP concentrations increased, a significant increase in the abundance of both the demethylation gene <jats:italic>dmdA</jats:italic> and the cleavage gene <jats:italic>dddP</jats:italic> were recorded. Importantly, our results show that for the highest DMSP concentrations recorded (above 30 μM), the cleavage pathway became more abundant than the demethylation pathway. This suggests that under high DMSP concentrations characteristic of heat stress, a larger fraction of the DMSP pool in the coral mucus is likely catabolised through the DMS-producing cleavage pathway.</jats:p>
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT210100100
dc.relation.ispartof	FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3389/fmars.2022.912862
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0405 Oceanography, 0602 Ecology
dc.title	Increased DMSP availability during thermal stress influences DMSP-degrading bacteria in coral mucus
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9
utslib.for	0405 Oceanography
utslib.for	0602 Ecology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-11-03T06:16:18Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	9

Abstract:

Reef-building corals are among the largest producers of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), an essential compound in marine biogeochemical cycles. DMSP can be catabolised in coral mucus by a wide diversity of coral-associated bacteria, where it can either be demethylated, leading to the incorporation of sulfur and carbon into bacterial biomass – or cleaved by lyases, releasing the climatically-active gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). It has been demonstrated that thermal stress increases DMSP concentrations in many coral species, however the effect of increased DMSP availability on coral-associated bacteria has not been explored. Here we performed thermal stress experiments to examine how changes in DMSP availability impact bacterial degradation pathways in the mucus of Acropora millepora. DMSP concentrations increased with temperature, reaching a maximum of 177.3 μM after 10 days of heat stress, which represents the highest concentration of DMSP recorded in any environment to date. Bacterial communities in coral mucus were significantly different from the surrounding seawater, yet they did not vary significantly between temperature or time. However, during thermal stress, when DMSP concentrations increased, a significant increase in the abundance of both the demethylation gene dmdA and the cleavage gene dddP were recorded. Importantly, our results show that for the highest DMSP concentrations recorded (above 30 μM), the cleavage pathway became more abundant than the demethylation pathway. This suggests that under high DMSP concentrations characteristic of heat stress, a larger fraction of the DMSP pool in the coral mucus is likely catabolised through the DMS-producing cleavage pathway.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/163204