Identification of culturable bacteria isolated from sponges affected in the 2016 massive die-off at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS)

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorSantiago-Vázquez, Lory
dc.contributor.committeeMemberAriza, Martha
dc.contributor.committeeMemberLaMontagne, Michael
dc.creatorPandya, Dhatri Amitkumar
dc.date.accessioned2019-02-19T16:38:06Z
dc.date.available2019-02-19T16:38:06Z
dc.date.created2017-12
dc.date.issued2017-12-06
dc.date.submittedDecember 2017
dc.date.updated2019-02-19T16:38:07Z
dc.description.abstractThis project was conducted to identify culturable bacteria isolated from sponges affected in the 2016 massive die-off at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS). The FGBNMS was considered a healthy reef system until sport divers reported on July 25th 2016 green, hazy water with huge patches of white mats on corals, sponges, other vertebrates and dead animals littering the bottom of East Flower Garden Bank. To help elucidate the root cause of this event, affected and unaffected sponge samples of Agelas clathrodes and Xestospongia muta sponges from East bank were examined for their associated microbial communities using culture-dependent methods. MALDI – TOF – MS and 16S rDNA sequencing were used to identify representative isolates. MALDI – TOF – MS and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis showed the presence of Bacillus firmus, Pseudovibrio spp., Halanaerobium spp., Microbulbifer variabilis, and Microbulbifer spp. in unaffected samples. Bacillus firmus could help sponges by nitrogen fixation and producing secondary metabolites that protects sponges from predators and Halanaerobium sehlinense is fermentative bacteria. The role of Halanaerobium sehlinense in sponges is not yet clear. Affected samples showed the presence of Vibrio spp. and Halanaerobium sehlinense. Vibrio spp. which occurs naturally in sea water as opportunistic pathogenic bacteria exhibits stronger proteolytic (caseinase), phospholipase and hemolytic activities. These potential pathogens may have contributed into massive die-off at East bank of FGBNMS.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657.1/1358
dc.subject.lcshDemospongiae--Texas--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
dc.subject.lcshHaplosclerida--Texas--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
dc.subject.lcshBacillus (Bacteria)--Texas--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
dc.subject.lcshBacteria--Texas--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
dc.subject.lcshPathogenic bacteria--Texas--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
dc.subject.lcshFlower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (Tex.)
dc.titleIdentification of culturable bacteria isolated from sponges affected in the 2016 massive die-off at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS)
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston-Clear Lake
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
PANDYA-MASTERSTHESIS-2017.pdf
Size:
3.46 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
LICENSE.txt
Size:
1.87 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt
Size:
4.46 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

Theses and Dissertations
College of Science and Engineering Projects and Theses