Abstract

Microbiota associated with bivalves have drawn considerable attention because studies have suggested their relevance to the fitness and growth of marine bivalves. Although the mussel Choromytilus chorus is a valuable resource for Chilean aquaculture and fisheries, its microbiota is still unknown. In this study, the composition and predicted functions of the bacterial community in tissues of C. chorus specimens grown in an estuary (Nehuentue) and a bay (Hueihue) were investigated. Using 16S rRNA genes as targets, the bacterial abundance in tissues was estimated by quantitative PCR and sequenced via Illumina MiSeq. The abundances of bacteria ranged from 10(3) to 10(5) copies of 16S rRNA genes g(-1) tissue. In the Nehuentue estuary, the bacterial communities in the tissues were dominated by the Tenericutes phylum, whereas the Tenericutes and Proteobacteria phyla dominated in mussels from Hueihue Bay. Higher numbers of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed in tissues from the Nehuentue Estuary than in those from Hueihue Bay. Differences in bacterial community compositions in tissues between both locations were confirmed by nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and Venn diagram analysis. In addition, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) revealed that the Mollicutes class and Actynomycetales order were key phylotypes in tissues from the Nehuentue Estuary and Hueihue Bay, respectively. Our analysis also predicted a high abundance of sequences assigned to heterotrophy; however, relatively high functional diversity was also found in tissues from Hueihue Bay. This work represents our first attempt to elucidate the C. chorus microbiota in contrasting Chilean aquatic environments.