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Coral microbiome dynamics in Guam's nearshore reefs

Recorded October 16, 2024 Speaker: Bastian Bentlage Associate Professor of Bioinformatics University of Guam (UOG) Over the last decade, increasing sea surface temperatures driven by climate change have led to four major coral bleaching episodes in Guam’s nearshore coral reefs. In addition, coastal development and poor land-use practices are major causes of erosion that further the decline of Guam’s coral reefs through sedimentation. My lab's research has employed a combination of coral transcriptomic, symbiont metabarcoding, and microbiome genomics to elucidate the impacts of environmental stressors on Guam’s coral species. A particular focus in recent years has been the characterization of the diversity of coral-endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodiniaceae) in dominant, habitat-defining corals in Guam using DNA metabarcoding approaches. In general, we found Symbiodiniaceae communities to be relatively stable over time within species evaluated thus far, but differences in community composition were observed across sites. To better understand Symbiodniaceae seasonal dynamics, we used flow cytometry to identify possible phenotypic variation in response to changing environmental conditions between seasons or in response to transplantation between sites for restoration. The other major focus in my lab has been characterizing coral bacterial microbiome communities and their variability through space and time. We identified drastic shifts in coral-associated bacterial microbiomes associated with elevated sedimentation or runoff during the wet season, as might be expected. To identify possible sources of this increasing bacterial diversity during the wet season, work in my lab has expanded to terrestrial habitats connected to nearshore reefs through Guam’s watersheds. Isolation of coral-associated bacteria and whole-genome sequencing is being employed to gain insights into the putative functions and adaptability of coral-associated microbial endosymbionts that may confer benefits to corals in a changing environment. Bio: Dr. Bentlage is Assocciate Professor of Bioinformatics at the University of Guam (UOG) in the western tropcial Pacific. After an undergraduate education in zoology, ecology and aquatic biology in Germany, Dr. Bentlage earned a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas, with a thesis that focused on the biogeography and evolutionary relationships of jellyfish and their kin. He spent two years during this time at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), studying specimens in the collections and publishing taxonomic revisions, including new species descriptions, of venomous box jellyfish. During a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland, College Park, Dr. Bentlage conducted research on gene expression signatures of species interactions in algae competing for resources. Here, he built his skill-set in bioinformatic data analysis. Following this appointment at the University of Maryland, Dr. Bentlage returned to the Smithsonian Institution under a Peter Buck postdoctoral fellowship to leverage the NMNH collections to investigate the evolution of open ocean and deep sea jellyfish. In 2016, Dr. Bentlage took a tenure track appointment at UOG, leading efforts to increase research capacity in the US territory of Guam. Since arriving at UOG, he has served as co-PI and research coordinator for NSF-funded programs totaling more than $20 million in funding to facilitate upgrades of laboratories, cyberinfrastructure (networking and high throughput computing), and hires of personnel. At UOG, Dr. Bentlage’s research focuses on the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change on corals and their symbiotic algae and bacteria.