Differences in Bacterial Community Structure in Two Color Morphs of the Hawaiian Reef Coral Montipora capitata

Corals harbor diverse bacterial associations that contribute to the health of the host. Using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing, we compared the bacterial communities of red and orange morphs of the Hawaiian coral Montipora capitata. Although both color morphs shared dominant bacterial genera, weighted and unweighted UniFrac analyses showed distinct bacterial communities. A single operational taxonomic unit (OTU), classified as Vibrio, represented the largest driver of differences between the color morphs. This OTU comprised 35.4% (±5.5%) of the orange morph bacterial community yet comprised 1.1% (±0.6%) of the red morph bacterial community. Cultivable bacteria from the two color morphs were also compared and tested for antibacterial activity. Cultured isolates represented 14 genera (7% of the total genera identified from sequencing data), and all but two cultured isolates had a matching OTU from the sequencing data. Half of the isolates tested (8 out of 16) displayed antibacterial activity against other cultured isolates but not against two known bacterial pathogens of M. capitata. The results from this study demonstrate that the specificity of coral-bacterial associations extends beyond the level of coral species. In addition, culture-dependent methods captured bacterial diversity that was representative of both rare and abundant members of the associated bacterial community, as characterized by culture-independent methods.