A metabarcoding study of the microbial communities in the corallivorous Coralliophila meyendorffii (Muricidae, Coralliophilinae) and its venomous coral host Parazoanthus axinellae (Zoanthidea, Parazoanthidae).

The corallivorous Coralliophila meyendorffii (Muricidae, Coralliophilinae) inhabits shallow waters of the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Its coral host Parazoanthus axinellae (Zoanthidea, Parazoanthidae), a common Anthozoa of the Mediterranean Sea and the NE coasts of the Atlantic, is an interesting colonial hexacoral lacking a calcareous skeleton. In this study, for the first time, by utilizing the metabarcoding 16S rRNA gene, we investigated on the microbial community associated with the ectodermal mucus and tissue of P. axinellae and the gut of C. meyendorffii. Although 16S metabarcoding based on hypervariable regions proved to be useful as a means of assessing the diversity of microbial communities, its application at lower taxonomic levels is still somewhat limited largely owing to the low evolutionary rates of the 16S rRNA gene. Collectively, our work strengthens the need for continuing efforts to evaluate the microbial communities of peculiar corallivorous neogastropods and their coral hosts.

Identifier
Source https://data.blue-cloud.org/search-details?step=~01205DC4F49FC3FA4D7B81EEE8C076944D3190F1C46
Metadata Access https://data.blue-cloud.org/api/collections/05DC4F49FC3FA4D7B81EEE8C076944D3190F1C46
Provenance
Instrument Illumina MiSeq; ILLUMINA
Publisher Blue-Cloud Data Discovery & Access service; ELIXIR-ENA
Publication Year 2025
OpenAccess true
Contact blue-cloud-support(at)maris.nl
Representation
Discipline Marine Science