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Krupnik N, Asis DT, Belkin N, Rubin-Blum M, Israel Á, Paytan A, Meiri D, Herut B, Rahav E. Dust-borne microbes affect Ulva ohnoi's growth and physiological state. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2021; 97:6129349. [PMID: 33544820 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiab020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The marine macroalgae Ulva sp. is considered an ecosystem engineer in rocky shores of temperate waters worldwide. Ulva sp. harbors a rich diversity of associated microbial epibionts, which are known to affect the algae's typical morphological development and 'health'. We examined the interaction between airborne microbes derived from atmospheric aerosols and Ulva ohnoi growth and physiological state. Specifically, we measured U. ohnoi growth rates and photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), alongside its microbial epibionts abundance, activity and diversity following dust (containing nutrients and airborne microorganisms) or UV-treated dust (only nutrients) amendments to filtered seawater. Parallel incubations with epibionts-free U. ohnoi (treated with antibiotics that removed the algae epibionts) were also tested to specifically examine if dust-borne microbes can replenish the epibiont community of U. ohnoi. We show that viable airborne microbes can restore U. ohnoi natural microbial epibionts communities, thereby keeping the seaweed alive and 'healthy'. These results suggest that microbes delivered through atmospheric aerosols can affect epiphyte biodiversity in marine flora, especially in areas subjected to high annual atmospheric dust deposition such as the Mediterranean Sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nimrod Krupnik
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel.,Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, 3200003, Israel
| | - Dorin Theodora Asis
- Department of Evolutionary and Human Biology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Natalia Belkin
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel
| | - Maxim Rubin-Blum
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel
| | - Álvaro Israel
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel
| | - Adina Paytan
- Institute of Marine Science, University of California, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA
| | - David Meiri
- Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, 3200003, Israel
| | - Barak Herut
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel
| | - Eyal Rahav
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel-Shikmona 8030, Haifa, 310800, Israel
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