Roger Williams University DOCS@RWU Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications Arts and Sciences 2017 Season, but not symbiont state, drives microbiome structure in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata. Koty H. Sharp Roger Williams University,
[email protected] Zoe A. Pratte Georgia Institute of Technology Allison H. Kerwin University of Connecticut, Storrs Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/fcas_fp Part of the Biology Commons, Marine Biology Commons, and the Microbiology Commons Recommended Citation Sharp, K.H., Pratte, Z.A., Kerwin, A.H., Rotjan, R.D., & Stewart, F. J. (2017). Season, but not symbiont state, drives microbiome structure in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata. Microbiome 5(1), 120. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts and Sciences at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Sharp et al. Microbiome (2017) 5:120 DOI 10.1186/s40168-017-0329-8 RESEARCH Open Access Season, but not symbiont state, drives microbiome structure in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata Koty H. Sharp1*, Zoe A. Pratte2, Allison H. Kerwin3, Randi D. Rotjan 4,5 and Frank J. Stewart2 Abstract Background: Understanding the associations among corals, their photosynthetic zooxanthella symbionts (Symbiodinium), and coral-associated prokaryotic microbiomes is critical for predicting the fidelity and strength of coral symbioses in the face of growing environmental threats. Most coral-microbiome associations are beneficial, yet the mechanisms that determine the composition of the coral microbiome remain largely unknown. Here, we characterized microbiome diversity in the temperate, facultatively symbiotic coral Astrangia poculata at four seasonal time points near the northernmost limit of the species range.