The Stability of Microbial Communities After Exposure to Surface WaterMicrobiome in a Controlled Closed System

Faculty #15
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: STEM Research
- Hampton University
Co-Author(s): Chariffa Williams and Simon Cruz, Hampton University, Hampton VA

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Red deepsea crabs, Chaceon quinquedens, are primarily found along the Atlantic slope at a depth range of 500-900 meters north of Cape Hatteras. The red deepsea crabs are commercially fished in Virginia and contribute to the local economy. During fishery, they are exposed to the surface ocean microbiome. We hypothesize that the core gut microbiome remains stable and is not influenced by exposure to the surface ocean microbiome. To test our hypothesis, crabs were kept in a holding system onshore at a constant temperature of 5°C in surface ocean water retrieved from a ballast tank on the fishing vessel Sea King (F/V). The crabs (n=5 per time point) were sampled at 0, 2, 4, 10, and 20 days. The water quality, temperature, salinity, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels were monitored throughout the experiment. The reference in situ microbiome was established using crab guts sampled aboard Sea King (F/V) and stored in liquid nitrogen. Now, each crab gut will be subjected to microbial DNA isolation followed by PCR for 16S rDNA using a or the V3-V4 primer set. The resulting PCR products will be processed for next generation sequencing using the Illumina platform. The data will be analyzed using QIIME and oligotyping pipeline. It is anticipated that the core microbiome will be stable; however, the flexible microbiome will change initially and then become stable. The results generated will help us to establish core and flexible microbiome and to formulate questions to understand how and what host factors play a role in the gut microbial community dynamics in response to starvation.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): National Science Foundation, Award #1601057

Faculty Advisor: None Listed,