Insights into Ecological Features of Microbial Dark Matter Within the Symbiotic Community During Alexandrium pacificum Bloom: Co-Occurrence Interactions and Assembly Processes

The symbiotic microbiome constitutes a consortium that has been persistently domesticated by a specific algal species, fostering a close and enduring association with the host. The majority of microbial taxa remain uncharacterized. These unknown microbes, often referred to as “microbial dark matter (MDM)”, have important ecological contributions. Given the challenges in discerning symbiotic microbes in natural environments, herein, ecological characteristics of MDM and known taxa within symbiotic communities were investigated in a simulated bloom process using Alexandrium pacificum without antibiotic treatment. Specifically, increased diversification was observed in MDM along the bloom process. Higher trophic interaction and less vulnerability of the molecular network were found in MDM taxa. The “bridge” role of MDM species was better than that of known taxa, as shown by higher betweenness centralization. Deterministic processes dominated in MDM taxa, which promote phylogenic diversity of such groups to some extent. The findings highlight that MDM taxa play an important role in sustaining community stability and functioning. This study broadens our understanding of the ecological contribution of MDM under disturbances from dinoflagellate blooms, providing essential theoretical insights and empirical data to inform the management of coastal toxic blooms.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Coasts

• Publication date

  2025-09-02

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/coasts5030031
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Bacterial specialists playing crucial roles in maintaining system stability and governing microbial diversity in bioremediation of oil-polluted sediments under typical deep-sea condition.

  2024cited by this paper
• Ecological and evolutionary processes involved in shaping microbial habitat generalists and specialists in urban park ecosystems

  2024cited by this paper
• Differential allelopathic effects of mangrove plants Kandelia obovata and Aegiceras corniculatum on harmful algal species: Potential applications in algal bloom control.

  2024cited by this paper
• Salinity-triggered homogeneous selection constrains the microbial function and stability in lakes

  2023cited by this paper
• Toxic and non-toxic dinoflagellates host distinct bacterial communities in their phycospheres

  2023influential reference
• Microbiomes of bloom-forming Phaeocystis algae are stable and consistently recruited, with both symbiotic and opportunistic modes

  2022cited by this paper
• Identification and implications of a core bacterial microbiome in 19 clonal cultures laboratory-reared for months to years of the cosmopolitan dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum

  2022influential reference
• Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the United States: History, current status and future trends.

  2021cited by this paper
• Dynamic bacterial community response to Akashiwo sanguinea (Dinophyceae) bloom in indoor marine microcosms

  2021influential reference
• Environmental adaptation is stronger for abundant rather than rare microorganisms in wetland soils from the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

  2021cited by this paper
• Intracellular bacteria are common and taxonomically diverse in cultured and in hospite algal endosymbionts of coral reefs

  2021cited by this paper
• Short-term response of pelagic planktonic communities after inoculation with the mass cultured dinoflagellate Alexandrium affine in a large-scale mesocosm experiment

  2021influential reference
• Enhancement of ecosystem carbon uptake in a dry shrubland under moderate warming: The role of nitrogen‐driven changes in plant morphology

  2021cited by this paper
• Interaction and assembly processes of abundant and rare microbial communities during a diatom bloom process.

  2020cited by this paper
• A network approach to elucidate and prioritize microbial dark matter in microbial communities

  2020influential reference
• Marine Microbial Food Web Networks During Phytoplankton Bloom and Non-bloom Periods: Warming Favors Smaller Organism Interactions and Intensifies Trophic Cascade

  2020influential reference
• Dependence of genome size and copy number of rRNA gene on cell volume in dinoflagellates.

  2020cited by this paper
• Functional profiles of phycospheric microorganisms during a marine dinoflagellate bloom.

  2020cited by this paper
• Phycosphere Microbial Succession Patterns and Assembly Mechanisms in a Marine Dinoflagellate Bloom

  2019cited by this paper
• Microbial Community Structure and Associations During a Marine Dinoflagellate Bloom

  2018cited by this paper
• Defining the core microbiome of the symbiotic dinoflagellate, Symbiodinium

  2018cited by this paper
• Bacterial Communities of Diatoms Display Strong Conservation Across Strains and Time

  2018cited by this paper
• From hairballs to hypotheses–biological insights from microbial networks

  2018cited by this paper
• Phylogenetically Novel Uncultured Microbial Cells Dominate Earth Microbiomes

  2018cited by this paper
• Stochastic Community Assembly: Does It Matter in Microbial Ecology?

  2017influential reference
• Exploring gut microbes in human health and disease: Pushing the envelope

  2014cited by this paper
• Morphology, toxicity, and phylogeny of Alexandrium (Dinophyceae) species along the coast of China

  2013cited by this paper
• Insights into the phylogeny and coding potential of microbial dark matter

  2013cited by this paper
• Degeneracy allows for both apparent homogeneity and diversification in populations

  2012cited by this paper
• Molecular ecological network analyses

  2012cited by this paper
• Microbial interactions: from networks to models

  2012cited by this paper
• QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data

  2010influential reference
• The Microbial Engines That Drive Earth's Biogeochemical Cycles

  2008cited by this paper
• Microbial structuring of marine ecosystems

  2007cited by this paper
• Dissecting biological “dark matter” with single-cell genetic analysis of rare and uncultivated TM7 microbes from the human mouth

  2007cited by this paper
• The Architecture of Biological Networks

  2006cited by this paper
• Complex systems science in biomedicine

  2006cited by this paper
• Neutral theory and community ecology

  2004cited by this paper
• Dissolved Organic Carbon from Phytoplankton

  2000cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of Maintenance of Species Diversity

  2000cited by this paper
• Culture of Marine Invertebrate Animals

  1975cited by this paper
• Culture of Phytoplankton for Feeding Marine Invertebrates

  1975cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.