Meeting Abstract
Microbial communities of marine organisms have been shown to play a crucial role in the development, physiology, and thermal tolerance of their hosts. The rock-burrowing urchin, Echinometra mathaei, is found across the Indo-Pacific and plays a significant role in the health and dynamics of reef ecosystems as a major bioeroder. The range of E. mathaei extends into the thermally extreme Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG), where present-day summer maxima (~35-37°C) exceed climate change predictions for the Indo-Pacific reefs in the next century. To date, there have been very few studies on microbial composition of marine organisms in this region and no studies that focus on the microbiome of E. mathaei, despite the potential role that it may play in this species’ ability to survive extreme conditions. To assess the role of the microbiome in the PAG, we collected twenty E. mathaei from one site within the PAG and contrasted their microbial assemblage with twenty individuals from one site in the neighboring Gulf of Oman (summer maxima of ~30-32°C). E. mathaei living within the PAG are located at a depth of approximately 19-20ft within a coral reef ecosystem, while the individuals living in the Gulf of Oman site are located within a much shallower intertidal ecosystem (about 6-7ft). Further, we used three different extraction protocols in order to optimize our approach so that we most accurately represent the communities present. We used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to characterize the microbial assemblage at a temporal and geographic scale. Our analysis allowed us to make predictions regarding the role of the localized microbial assemblages, and assess the best methodology for future research endeavors.
