Date of Award
1-1-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Biological Science
First Advisor
Colin Jackson
Second Advisor
Peter Zee
Third Advisor
Ryan Garrick
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Freshwater mussels are important for nutrient cycling and ecosystem health, as they filter feed on their surrounding water column. This form of feeding makes these bivalves especially sensitive to conditions in their environment. Gut microbial communities (microbiomes) have been recognized as important to both host organism and ecosystem health; however, how microbiomes are organized and influenced is still unclear. In this study, the gut microbiomes of 58 individuals of the freshwater mussel Amblema plicata were compared across two river basins, five rivers, and nine sites in the southeastern USA. Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, and Cyanobacteria were the most common phyla within all mussels. However, the relative abundances of these major bacterial phyla were different in gut microbiomes of A. plicata taken from different rivers and river basins. The relative abundance of major bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) also differed in mussels collected from different sites, rivers, and river basins Despite these differences, a core microbiome was identified across all mussels, with eight OTUs being consistent members of the A. plicata microbiome at all sites, the most abundant OTU identifying as a member of Planctomycetaceae. Distance between sites was not correlated to similarity in the gut microbiome, which was more related to site physicochemistry. These results suggest that while physicochemical conditions affect the composition of transient bacteria in the mussel gut microbiome, the core microbiome is largely unaffected, and a portion of the A. plicata microbiome is retained regardless of the river system.
Recommended Citation
Lawson, Lauren, "Describing the gut microbiome of Amblema plicata" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2022.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2022