FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Coral-associated viruses and bacteria in the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam BT AF THU PHAM, THE THUOC CHU, VAN VIET HA BUI, THI THUY NGUYEN, THANH HUY TRAN, QUANG NGOC MAI CUNG, THI BOUVIER, Corinne BRUNE, Justine VILLEGER, Sebastien BOUVIER, Thierry BETTAREL, Yvan AS 1:1;2:1;3:2;4:3;5:3;6:4;7:5;8:5;9:5;10:5;11:5; FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;6:;7:;8:;9:;10:;11:; C1 Vietnam Acad Sci & Technol, IMER, Haiphong, Vietnam. Vietnam Natl Univ, Hanoi Univ Sci, Hanoi, Vietnam. NIHE, Hanoi, Vietnam. VAST, Inst Biotechnol IBT, Hanoi, Vietnam. Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, UMR MARBEC, Montpellier, France. C2 VAST, VIETNAM UNIV NATL VIETNAM, VIETNAM NIHE, VIETNAM VAST, VIETNAM UNIV MONTPELLIER, FRANCE UM MARBEC IF 2.109 TC 1 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00627/73870/73680.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;Viruses;Coral-associated bacteria;Mucus;Symbionts;Coral reefs AB Viruses inhabiting the surface mucus layer of scleractinian corals have received little ecological attention so far. Yet they have recently been shown to be highly abundant and could even play a pivotal role in coral health. A fundamental aspect that remains unresolved is whether their abundance and diversity change with the trophic state of their environment. The present study examined the variability in the abundance of viral and bacterial epibionts on 13 coral species collected from 2 different sites in the Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: one station heavily affected by anthropogenic activity (Cat Ba Island) and one protected offshore station (Long Chau Island). In general, viral abundance was significantly higher in coral mucus (mean = 10.6 +/- 2.0 x 10(7) virus-like particles ml(-1)) than in the surrounding water (5.2 +/- 1.3 x 10(7) virus-like particles ml(-1)). Concomitantly, the abundance and community diversity (inferred from phylogenetic and morphological analyses) of their mucosal bacterial hosts strongly differed from their planktonic counterparts. Surprisingly, despite large differences in water quality and nutrient concentrations between Cat Ba and Long Chau, there were no significant differences in the concentrations of epibiotic viruses and bacteria measured in the only 2 coral species (i.e. Pavona decussata and Lobophyllia flabelliformis) that were common at both sites. The ability of corals to shed bacteria to compensate for their fast growth in nutrient-rich mucus is questioned here. PY 2015 SO Aquatic Microbial Ecology SN 0948-3055 PU Inter-research VL 76 IS 2 UT 000366331300006 BP 149 EP 161 DI 10.3354/ame01775 ID 73870 ER EF