TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of bacterial and diatom biofilms on the settlement of the bryozoan Bugula neritina
AU - Dahms, Hans U.
AU - Dobretsov, Sergey
AU - Qian, Pei Yuan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Ms. C. Lam for providing diatom cultures, Mrs. I. Plakhotnikova for her help with the enumeration of bacterial densities, and Mrs. V. Unkerfer for proofreading the manuscript. We thank Dr. J. Thomason for statistical advice. The authors acknowledge three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This investigation was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) grants CA00/01.Sc01, HKUST6119/01M and HKUST6100/02M to P.-Y. Qian. [SS]
PY - 2004/12/15
Y1 - 2004/12/15
N2 - Biofilms of marine bacteria and diatoms and their combinations were examined in laboratory choice assays to determine their effects on the attachment and successful metamorphosis of the larvae of the bryozoan Bugula neritina (Linnéus). The larval settlement in response to unfilmed surfaces, a natural biofilm (NBF) and adsorbed cells of three strains of bacteria, five strains of pennate diatoms and combinations of the two at different densities. Bacterial and diatom strains showed different effects on the larval settlement of B. neritina. Bacterial monospecific strains of an unidentified α-Proteobacterium and Vibrio sp. mediated the same percentage of settlement as a filtered seawater control. Biofilms of Pseudoalteromonas sp. caused significantly lower larval settlement. Larval settlement of B. neritina was negatively correlated with increasing densities of Pseudoalteromonas sp. The highest percentages of settlement were mediated by the biofilms of the diatom species Achnanthes sp., Amphora cofeaeformis, Amphora tenerrima, Nitzschia constricta and a 5-day-old natural biofilm, while the lowest settlement was found on a N. frustulum film. A three-way analysis of variance demonstrated that the density of bacteria and the presence of particular species of diatoms and bacteria in combined biofilms, significantly affected the settlement of B. neritina larvae. High settlement of larvae (50-90%) at all treatments indicated that B. neritina larvae are much more indiscriminate settlers than previously expected. Hence, using this species as a monitoring organism to trace ecologically relevant subtle changes of settlement cues in the natural environment should be carefully re-examined.
AB - Biofilms of marine bacteria and diatoms and their combinations were examined in laboratory choice assays to determine their effects on the attachment and successful metamorphosis of the larvae of the bryozoan Bugula neritina (Linnéus). The larval settlement in response to unfilmed surfaces, a natural biofilm (NBF) and adsorbed cells of three strains of bacteria, five strains of pennate diatoms and combinations of the two at different densities. Bacterial and diatom strains showed different effects on the larval settlement of B. neritina. Bacterial monospecific strains of an unidentified α-Proteobacterium and Vibrio sp. mediated the same percentage of settlement as a filtered seawater control. Biofilms of Pseudoalteromonas sp. caused significantly lower larval settlement. Larval settlement of B. neritina was negatively correlated with increasing densities of Pseudoalteromonas sp. The highest percentages of settlement were mediated by the biofilms of the diatom species Achnanthes sp., Amphora cofeaeformis, Amphora tenerrima, Nitzschia constricta and a 5-day-old natural biofilm, while the lowest settlement was found on a N. frustulum film. A three-way analysis of variance demonstrated that the density of bacteria and the presence of particular species of diatoms and bacteria in combined biofilms, significantly affected the settlement of B. neritina larvae. High settlement of larvae (50-90%) at all treatments indicated that B. neritina larvae are much more indiscriminate settlers than previously expected. Hence, using this species as a monitoring organism to trace ecologically relevant subtle changes of settlement cues in the natural environment should be carefully re-examined.
KW - Attachment
KW - Bacteria
KW - Bryozoan larvae
KW - Bugula neritina
KW - Diatoms
KW - Monospecies biofilms
KW - Settlement
KW - Two-species biofilms
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jembe.2004.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jembe.2004.08.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:8144223153
SN - 0022-0981
VL - 313
SP - 191
EP - 209
JO - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
JF - Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
IS - 1
ER -