Influence of bacteria and diatoms in biofilms on metamorphosis of the marine slipper limpet <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crepidula onyx</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Jill Man-Ying Chiu Vengatesen Thiyagarajan Jan A Pechenik Oi-Shing Hung Pei-Yuan Qian |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology/Coastal Marine Laboratory, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China;(2) Biology Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA |
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Abstract: | Larvae of the slipper limpet Crepidula onyx metamorphose in response to marine biofilms. In this study, we investigated how the percentage of larval metamorphosis in
this species was affected by biofilms that differed in certain attributes. To manipulate bacterial and diatom cell densities
and community composition, we developed biofilms in the laboratory (1) at different temperatures (16, 23 and 30°C) and salinities
(20, 27 and 34‰), (2) with or without addition of antibiotics, and (3) in the light or in the dark. We also allowed biofilms
to develop at three field sites with different prevailing environmental conditions so as to generate biofilms with different,
but natural, attributes. Bacterial and diatom community composition in biofilms were determined using a DNA fingerprinting
technique and microscopic examination, respectively. The effects of biofilms on metamorphosis were investigated in laboratory
assays. The percentage of larval metamorphosis correlated with bacterial and diatom cell densities in only one of the three
experiments conducted, but was substantially affected by differences in bacterial and diatom community composition in all
three experiments. It also appears that metamorphosis of C. onyx depends on the simultaneous presence of both bacterial and diatom communities in biofilms. |
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