Photosynthesis and other factors affecting the establishment and maintenance of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

Coral growth depends on the partnership between the animal hosts and their intracellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts. In this study, we used the sea anemone Aiptasia, a laboratory model for coral biology, to investigate the poorly understood mechanisms that mediate symbiosis establishment and maintenance. We found that initial colonization of both adult polyps and larvae by a compatible algal strain was more effective when the algae were able to photosynthesize and that the long-term maintenance of the symbiosis also depended on photosynthesis. In the dark, algal cells were taken up into host gastrodermal cells and not rapidly expelled, but they seemed unable to reproduce and thus were gradually lost. When we used confocal microscopy to examine the interaction of larvae with two algal strains that cannot establish stable symbioses with Aiptasia, it appeared that both pre- and post-phagocytosis mechanisms were involved. With one strain, algae entered the gastric cavity but appeared to be completely excluded from the gastrodermal cells. With the other strain, small numbers of algae entered the gastrodermal cells but appeared unable to proliferate there and were slowly lost upon further incubation. We also asked if the exclusion of either incompatible strain could result simply from their cells' being too large for the host cells to accommodate. However, the size distributions of the compatible and incompatible strains overlapped extensively. Moreover, examination of macerates confirmed earlier reports that individual gastrodermal cells could expand to accommodate multiple algal cells. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sculpting the microbiome: how host factors determine and respond to microbial colonization'.

Molecular insights into the Darwin paradox of coral reefs from the sea anemone Aiptasia.

Symbiotic cnidarians such as corals and anemones form highly productive and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems in nutrient-poor ocean environments, a phenomenon known as Darwin's paradox. Resolving this paradox requires elucidating the molecular bases of efficient nutrient distribution and recycling in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Using the sea anemone Aiptasia, we show that during symbiosis, the increased availability of glucose and the presence of the algae jointly induce the coordinated up-regulation and relocalization of glucose and ammonium transporters. These molecular responses are critical to support symbiont functioning and organism-wide nitrogen assimilation through glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase-mediated amino acid biosynthesis. Our results reveal crucial aspects of the molecular mechanisms underlying nitrogen conservation and recycling in these organisms that allow them to thrive in the nitrogen-poor ocean environments.

Long-term maintenance of a heterologous symbiont association in Acropora palmata on natural reefs.

The sensitivity of reef-building coral to elevated temperature is a function of their symbiosis with dinoflagellate algae in the family Symbiodiniaceae. Changes in the composition of the endosymbiont community in response to thermal stress can increase coral thermal tolerance. Consequently, this mechanism is being investigated as a human-assisted intervention for rapid acclimation of coral in the face of climate change. Successful establishment of novel symbioses that increase coral thermal tolerance have been demonstrated in laboratory conditions; however, it is unclear how long these heterologous relationships persist in nature. Here, we test the persistence of a novel symbiosis between Acropora palmata and Durusdinium spp. from Mote Marine Laboratory's ex situ nursery by outplanting clonal replicates (ramets) of five A. palmata host genotypes to natural reefs in the lower Florida Keys. Amplicon sequencing analysis of ITS2-type profiles revealed that the majority of surviving ramets remained dominated by Durusdinium spp. two years after transplantation. However, 15% of ramets, including representatives of all genotypes, exhibited some degree of symbiont shuffling or switching at six of eight sites, including complete takeover by site-specific strains of the native symbiont, Symbiodinium fitti. The predominant long-term stability of the novel symbiosis supports the potential effectiveness of symbiont modification as a management tool. Although, the finding that 6-7 year-old coral can alter symbiont community composition in the absence of bleaching indicates that Symbiodiniaceae communities are indeed capable of great flexibility under ambient conditions.

Evidence for adaptive morphological plasticity in the Caribbean coral, Acropora cervicornis.

Genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) indicate that variation in organismal traits cannot be explained by fixed effects of genetics or site-specific plastic responses alone. For tropical coral reefs experiencing dramatic environmental change, identifying the contributions of genotype, environment, and GxE on coral performance will be vital for both predicting persistence and developing restoration strategies. We quantified the impacts of G, E, and GxE on the morphology and survival of the endangered coral, Acropora cervicornis, through an in situ transplant experiment exposing common garden (nursery)-raised clones of ten genotypes to nine reef sites in the Florida Keys. By fate-tracking outplants over one year with colony-level 3D photogrammetry, we uncovered significant GxE on coral size, shape, and survivorship, indicating that no universal winner exists in terms of colony performance. Rather than differences in mean trait values, we found that individual-level morphological plasticity is adaptive in that the most plastic individuals also exhibited the fastest growth and highest survival. This indicates that adaptive morphological plasticity may continue to evolve, influencing the success of A. cervicornis and resulting reef communities in a changing climate. As focal reefs are active restoration sites, the knowledge that variation in phenotype is an important predictor of performance can be directly applied to restoration planning. Taken together, these results establish A. cervicornis as a system for studying the ecoevolutionary dynamics of phenotypic plasticity that also can inform genetic- and environment-based strategies for coral restoration.

Insights into coral bleaching under heat stress from analysis of gene expression in a sea anemone model system.

Loss of endosymbiotic algae ("bleaching") under heat stress has become a major problem for reef-building corals worldwide. To identify genes that might be involved in triggering or executing bleaching, or in protecting corals from it, we used RNAseq to analyze gene-expression changes during heat stress in a coral relative, the sea anemone Aiptasia. We identified >500 genes that showed rapid and extensive up-regulation upon temperature increase. These genes fell into two clusters. In both clusters, most genes showed similar expression patterns in symbiotic and aposymbiotic anemones, suggesting that this early stress response is largely independent of the symbiosis. Cluster I was highly enriched for genes involved in innate immunity and apoptosis, and most transcript levels returned to baseline many hours before bleaching was first detected, raising doubts about their possible roles in this process. Cluster II was highly enriched for genes involved in protein folding, and most transcript levels returned more slowly to baseline, so that roles in either promoting or preventing bleaching seem plausible. Many of the genes in clusters I and II appear to be targets of the transcription factors NFκB and HSF1, respectively. We also examined the behavior of 337 genes whose much higher levels of expression in symbiotic than aposymbiotic anemones in the absence of stress suggest that they are important for the symbiosis. Unexpectedly, in many cases, these expression levels declined precipitously long before bleaching itself was evident, suggesting that loss of expression of symbiosis-supporting genes may be involved in triggering bleaching.

Glucose-Induced Trophic Shift in an Endosymbiont Dinoflagellate with Physiological and Molecular Consequences.

Interactions between the dinoflagellate endosymbiont Symbiodinium and its cnidarian hosts (e.g. corals, sea anemones) are the foundation of coral-reef ecosystems. Carbon flow between the partners is a hallmark of this mutualism, but the mechanisms governing this flow and its impact on symbiosis remain poorly understood. We showed previously that although Symbiodinium strain SSB01 can grow photoautotrophically, it can grow mixotrophically or heterotrophically when supplied with Glc, a metabolite normally transferred from the alga to its host. Here we show that Glc supplementation of SSB01 cultures causes a loss of pigmentation and photosynthetic activity, disorganization of thylakoid membranes, accumulation of lipid bodies, and alterations of cell-surface morphology. We used global transcriptome analyses to determine if these physiological changes were correlated with changes in gene expression. Glc-supplemented cells exhibited a marked reduction in levels of plastid transcripts encoding photosynthetic proteins, although most nuclear-encoded transcripts (including those for proteins involved in lipid synthesis and formation of the extracellular matrix) exhibited little change in their abundances. However, the altered carbon metabolism in Glc-supplemented cells was correlated with modest alterations (approximately 2x) in the levels of some nuclear-encoded transcripts for sugar transporters. Finally, Glc-bleached SSB01 cells appeared unable to efficiently populate anemone larvae. Together, these results suggest links between energy metabolism and cellular physiology, morphology, and symbiotic interactions. However, the results also show that in contrast to many other organisms, Symbiodinium can undergo dramatic physiological changes that are not reflected by major changes in the abundances of nuclear-encoded transcripts and thus presumably reflect posttranscriptional regulatory processes.

Rapid, Precise, and Accurate Counts of Symbiodinium Cells Using the Guava Flow Cytometer, and a Comparison to Other Methods.

In studies of both the establishment and breakdown of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, it is often necessary to determine the number of Symbiodinium cells relative to the quantity of host tissue. Ideally, the methods used should be rapid, precise, and accurate. In this study, we systematically evaluated methods for sample preparation and storage and the counting of algal cells using the hemocytometer, a custom image-analysis program for automated counting of the fluorescent algal cells, the Coulter Counter, or the Millipore Guava flow-cytometer. We found that although other methods may have value in particular applications, for most purposes, the Guava flow cytometer provided by far the best combination of precision, accuracy, and efficient use of investigator time (due to the instrument's automated sample handling), while also allowing counts of algal numbers over a wide range and in small volumes of tissue homogenate. We also found that either of two assays of total homogenate protein provided a precise and seemingly accurate basis for normalization of algal counts to the total amount of holobiont tissue.

Interactions between the tropical sea anemone Aiptasia pallida and Serratia marcescens, an opportunistic pathogen of corals.

Coral reefs are under increasing stress caused by global and local environmental changes, which are thought to increase the susceptibility of corals to opportunistic pathogens. In the absence of an easily culturable model animal, the understanding of the mechanisms of disease progression in corals remains fairly limited. In the present study, we tested the susceptibility of the tropical sea anemone Aiptasia pallida to an opportunistic coral pathogen (Serratia marcescens). A. pallida was susceptible to S. marcescens PDL100 and responded to this opportunistic coral pathogen with darkening of the tissues and retraction of tentacles, followed by complete disintegration of polyp tissues. Histological observations revealed loss of zooxanthellae and structural changes in eosinophilic granular cells in response to pathogen infection. A screen of S. marcescens mutants identified a motility and tetrathionate reductase mutants as defective in virulence in the A. pallida infection model. In co-infections with the wild-type strain, the tetrathionate reductase mutant was less fit within the surface mucopolysaccharide layer of the host coral Acropora palmata.

Outcomes of infections of sea anemone Aiptasia pallida with Vibrio spp. pathogenic to corals.

Incidents of coral disease are on the rise. However, in the absence of a surrogate animal host, understanding of the interactions between coral pathogens and their hosts remains relatively limited, compared to other pathosystems of similar global importance. A tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia pallida, has been investigated as a surrogate model to study certain aspects of coral biology. Therefore, to test whether the utility of this surrogate model can be extended to study coral diseases, in the present study, we tested its susceptibility to common coral pathogens (Vibrio coralliilyticus and Vibrio shiloi) as well as polymicrobial consortia recovered from the Caribbean Yellow Band Disease (CYBD) lesions. A. pallida was susceptible to each of the tested pathogens. A. pallida responded to the pathogens with darkening of the tissues (associated with an increased melanization) and retraction of tentacles, followed by complete disintegration of polyp tissues. Loss of zooxanthellae was not observed; however, the disease progression pattern is consistent with the behavior of necrotizing pathogens. Virulence of some coral pathogens in Aiptasia was paralleled with their glycosidase activities.

Temperature-dependent inhibition of opportunistic Vibrio pathogens by native coral commensal bacteria.

Bacteria living within the surface mucus layer of corals compete for nutrients and space. A number of stresses affect the outcome of this competition. The interactions between native microorganisms and opportunistic pathogens largely determine the coral holobiont's overall health and fitness. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that commensal bacteria isolated from the mucus layer of a healthy elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, are capable of inhibition of opportunistic pathogens, Vibrio shiloi AK1 and Vibrio coralliilyticus. These vibrios are known to cause disease in corals and their virulence is temperature dependent. Elevated temperature (30 °C) increased the cell numbers of one commensal and both Vibrio pathogens in monocultures. We further tested the hypothesis that elevated temperature favors pathogenic organisms by simultaneously increasing the fitness of vibrios and decreasing the fitness of commensals by measuring growth of each species within a co-culture over the course of 1 week. In competition experiments between vibrios and commensals, the proportion of Vibrio spp. increased significantly under elevated temperature. We finished by investigating several temperature-dependent mechanisms that could influence co-culture differences via changes in competitive fitness. The ability of Vibrio spp. to utilize glycoproteins found in A. palmata mucus increased or remained stable when exposed to elevated temperature, while commensals' tended to decrease utilization. In both vibrios and commensals, protease activity increased at 30 °C, while chiA expression increased under elevated temperatures for Vibrio spp. These results provide insight into potential mechanisms through which elevated temperature may select for pathogenic bacterial dominance and lead to disease or a decrease in coral fitness.

Coral bleaching independent of photosynthetic activity.

The global decline of reef-building corals is due in part to the loss of algal symbionts, or "bleaching," during the increasingly frequent periods of high seawater temperatures. During bleaching, endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodinium spp.) either are lost from the animal tissue or lose their photosynthetic pigments, resulting in host mortality if the Symbiodinium populations fail to recover. The >1,000 studies of the causes of heat-induced bleaching have focused overwhelmingly on the consequences of damage to algal photosynthetic processes, and the prevailing model for bleaching invokes a light-dependent generation of toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) by heat-damaged chloroplasts as the primary trigger. However, the precise mechanisms of bleaching remain unknown, and there is evidence for involvement of multiple cellular processes. In this study, we asked the simple question of whether bleaching can be triggered by heat in the dark, in the absence of photosynthetically derived ROS. We used both the sea anemone model system Aiptasia and several species of reef-building corals to demonstrate that symbiont loss can occur rapidly during heat stress in complete darkness. Furthermore, we observed damage to the photosynthetic apparatus under these conditions in both Aiptasia endosymbionts and cultured Symbiodinium. These results do not directly contradict the view that light-stimulated ROS production is important in bleaching, but they do show that there must be another pathway leading to bleaching. Elucidation of this pathway should help to clarify bleaching mechanisms under the more usual conditions of heat stress in the light.

Coral-associated micro-organisms and their roles in promoting coral health and thwarting diseases.

Over the last decade, significant advances have been made in characterization of the coral microbiota. Shifts in its composition often correlate with the appearance of signs of diseases and/or bleaching, thus suggesting a link between microbes, coral health and stability of reef ecosystems. The understanding of interactions in coral-associated microbiota is informed by the on-going characterization of other microbiomes, which suggest that metabolic pathways and functional capabilities define the 'core' microbiota more accurately than the taxonomic diversity of its members. Consistent with this hypothesis, there does not appear to be a consensus on the specificity in the interactions of corals with microbial commensals, even though recent studies report potentially beneficial functions of the coral-associated bacteria. They cycle sulphur, fix nitrogen, produce antimicrobial compounds, inhibit cell-to-cell signalling and disrupt virulence in opportunistic pathogens. While their beneficial functions have been documented, it is not certain whether or how these microbes are selected by the hosts. Therefore, understanding the role of innate immunity, signal and nutrient exchange in the establishment of coral microbiota and in controlling its functions will probably reveal ancient, evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that dictate the outcomes of host-microbial interactions, and impact the resilience of the host.

Characterization of the gacA-dependent surface and coral mucus colonization by an opportunistic coral pathogen Serratia marcescens PDL100.

Opportunistic pathogens rely on global regulatory systems to assess the environment and to control virulence and metabolism to overcome host defenses and outcompete host-associated microbiota. In Gammaproteobacteria, GacS/GacA is one such regulatory system. GacA orthologs direct the expression of the csr (rsm) small regulatory RNAs, which through their interaction with the RNA-binding protein CsrA (RsmA), control genes with functions in carbon metabolism, motility, biofilm formation, and virulence. The csrB gene was controlled by gacA in Serratia marcescens PDL100. A disruption of the S. marcescens gacA gene resulted in an increased fitness of the mutant on mucus of the host coral Acropora palmata and its high molecular weight fraction, whereas the mutant was as competitive as the wild type on the low molecular weight fraction of the mucus. Swarming motility and biofilm formation were reduced in the gacA mutant. This indicates a critical role for gacA in the efficient utilization of specific components of coral mucus and establishment within the surface mucopolysaccharide layer. While significantly affecting early colonization behaviors (coral mucus utilization, swarming motility, and biofilm formation), gacA was not required for virulence of S. marcescens PDL100 in either a model polyp Aiptasia pallida or in brine shrimp Artemia nauplii.

Members of native coral microbiota inhibit glycosidases and thwart colonization of coral mucus by an opportunistic pathogen.

The outcome of the interactions between native commensal microorganisms and opportunistic pathogens is crucial to the health of the coral holobiont. During the establishment within the coral surface mucus layer, opportunistic pathogens, including a white pox pathogen Serratia marcescens PDL100, compete with native bacteria for available nutrients. Both commensals and pathogens employ glycosidases and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase to utilize components of coral mucus. This study tested the hypothesis that specific glycosidases were critical for the growth of S. marcescens on mucus and that their inhibition by native coral microbiota reduces fitness of the pathogen. Consistent with this hypothesis, a S. marcescens transposon mutant with reduced glycosidase and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activities was unable to compete with the wild type on the mucus of the host coral Acropora palmata, although it was at least as competitive as the wild type on a minimal medium with glycerol and casamino acids. Virulence of the mutant was modestly reduced in the Aiptasia model. A survey revealed that ∼8% of culturable coral commensal bacteria have the ability to inhibit glycosidases in the pathogen. A small molecular weight, ethanol-soluble substance(s) produced by the coral commensal Exiguobacterium sp. was capable of the inhibition of the induction of catabolic enzymes in S. marcescens. This inhibition was in part responsible for the 10-100-fold reduction in the ability of the pathogen to grow on coral mucus. These results provide insight into potential mechanisms of commensal interference with early colonization and infection behaviors in opportunistic pathogens and highlight an important function for the native microbiota in coral health.

Signaling-mediated cross-talk modulates swarming and biofilm formation in a coral pathogen Serratia marcescens.

Interactions within microbial communities associated with marine holobionts contribute importantly to the health of these symbiotic organisms formed by invertebrates, dinoflagellates and bacteria. However, mechanisms that control invertebrate-associated microbiota are not yet fully understood. Hydrophobic compounds that were isolated from surfaces of asymptomatic corals inhibited biofilm formation by the white pox pathogen Serratia marcescens PDL100, indicating that signals capable of affecting the associated microbiota are produced in situ. However, neither the origin nor structures of these signals are currently known. A functional survey of bacteria recovered from coral mucus and from cultures of the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium spp. revealed that they could alter swarming and biofilm formation in S. marcescens. As swarming and biofilm formation are inversely regulated, the ability of some native α-proteobacteria to affect both behaviors suggests that the α-proteobacterial signal(s) target a global regulatory switch controlling the behaviors in the pathogen. Isolates of Marinobacter sp. inhibited both biofilm formation and swarming in S. marcescens PDL100, without affecting growth of the coral pathogen, indicative of the production of multiple inhibitors, likely targeting lower level regulatory genes or functions. A multi-species cocktail containing these strains inhibited progression of a disease caused by S. marcescens in a model polyp Aiptasia pallida. An α-proteobacterial isolate 44B9 had a similar effect. Even though ∼4% of native holobiont-associated bacteria produced compounds capable of triggering responses in well-characterized N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) biosensors, there was no strong correlation between the production of AHL-like signals and disruption of biofilms or swarming in S. marcescens.

N-ACYL HOMOSERINE LACTONe LACTONASE, AiiA, INACTIVATION OF QUORUM-SENSING AGONISTS PRODUCED BY CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDTII (CHLOROPHYTA) AND CHARACTERIZATION OF aiiA TRANSGENIC ALGAE(1).

Eukaryotes such as plants and the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii P. A. Dang. produce and secrete compounds that mimic N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) bacterial quorum-sensing (QS) signals and alter QS-regulated gene expression in the associated bacteria. Here, we show that the set of C. reinhardtii signal-mimic compounds that activate the CepR AHL receptor of Burkholderia cepacia are susceptible to inactivation by AiiA, an AHL lactonase enzyme of Bacillus. Inactivation of these algal mimics by AiiA suggests that the CepR-stimulatory class of mimics produced by C. reinhardtii may have a conserved lactone ring structure in common with AHL QS signals. To examine the role of AHL mimic compounds in the interactions of C. reinhardtii with bacteria, the aiiA gene codon optimized for Chlamydomonas was generated for the expression of AiiA as a chimeric fusion with cyan fluorescent protein (AimC). Culture filtrates of transgenic strains expressing the fusion protein AimC had significantly reduced levels of CepR signal-mimic activities. When parental and transgenic algae were cultured with a natural pond water bacterial community, a morphologically distinct, AHL-producing isolate of Aeromonas veronii was observed to colonize the transgenic algal cultures and form biofilms more readily than the parental algal cultures, indicating that secretion of the CepR signal mimics by the alga can significantly affect its interactions with bacteria it encounters in natural environments. The parental alga was also able to sequester and/or destroy AHLs in its growth media to further disrupt or manipulate bacterial QS.

Role of GacA in virulence of Vibrio vulnificus.

The GacS/GacA two-component signal transduction system regulates virulence, biofilm formation and symbiosis in Vibrio species. The present study investigated this regulatory pathway in Vibrio vulnificus, a human pathogen that causes life-threatening disease associated with the consumption of raw oysters and wound infections. Small non-coding RNAs (csrB1, csrB2, csrB3 and csrC) commonly regulated by the GacS/GacA pathway were decreased (P<0.0003) in a V. vulnificus CMCP6 ΔgacA : : aph mutant compared with the wild-type parent, and expression was restored by complementation of the gacA deletion mutation in trans. Of the 20 genes examined by RT-PCR, significant reductions in the transcript levels of the mutant in comparison with the wild-type strain were observed only for genes related to motility (flaA), stationary phase (rpoS) and protease (vvpE) (P=0.04, 0.01 and 0.002, respectively). Swimming motility, flagellation and opaque colony morphology indicative of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) were unchanged in the mutant, while cytotoxicity, protease activity, CPS phase variation and the ability to acquire iron were decreased compared with the wild-type (P<0.01). The role of gacA in virulence of V. vulnificus was also demonstrated by significant impairment in the ability of the mutant strain to cause either skin (P<0.0005) or systemic infections (P<0.02) in subcutaneously inoculated, non-iron-treated mice. However, the virulence of the mutant was equivalent to that of the wild-type in iron-treated mice, demonstrating that the GacA pathway in V. vulnificus regulates the virulence of this organism in an iron-dependent manner.

Utilization of mucus from the coral Acropora palmata by the pathogen Serratia marcescens and by environmental and coral commensal bacteria.

In recent years, diseases of corals caused by opportunistic pathogens have become widespread. How opportunistic pathogens establish on coral surfaces, interact with native microbiota, and cause disease is not yet clear. This study compared the utilization of coral mucus by coral-associated commensal bacteria ("Photobacterium mandapamensis" and Halomonas meridiana) and by opportunistic Serratia marcescens pathogens. S. marcescens PDL100 (a pathogen associated with white pox disease of Acroporid corals) grew to higher population densities on components of mucus from the host coral. In an in vitro coculture on mucus from Acropora palmata, S. marcescens PDL100 isolates outgrew coral isolates. The white pox pathogen did not differ from other bacteria in growth on mucus from a nonhost coral, Montastraea faveolata. The ability of S. marcescens to cause disease in acroporid corals may be due, at least in part, to the ability of strain PDL100 to build to higher population numbers within the mucus surface layer of its acroporid host. During growth on mucus from A. palmata, similar glycosidase activities were present in coral commensal bacteria, in S. marcescens PDL100, and in environmental and human isolates of S. marcescens. The temporal regulation of these activities during growth on mucus, however, was distinct in the isolates. During early stages of growth on mucus, enzymatic activities in S. marcescens PDL100 were most similar to those in coral commensals. After overnight incubation on mucus, enzymatic activities in a white pox pathogen were most similar to those in pathogenic Serratia strains isolated from human mucosal surfaces.

Catabolite regulation of enzymatic activities in a white pox pathogen and commensal bacteria during growth on mucus polymers from the coral Acropora palmata.

Colonization of host mucus surfaces is one of the first steps in the establishment of coral-associated microbial communities. Coral mucus contains a sulfated glycoprotein (in which oligosaccharide decorations are connected to the polypeptide backbone by a mannose residue) and molecules that result from its degradation. Mucus is utilized as a growth substrate by commensal and pathogenic organisms. Two representative coral commensals, Photobacterium mandapamensis and Halomonas meridiana, differed from a white pox pathogen Serratia marcescens PDL100 in the pattern with which they utilized mucus polymers of Acropora palmata. Incubation with the mucus polymer increased mannopyranosidase activity in S. marcescens, suggestive of its ability to cleave off oligosaccharide side chains. With the exception of glucosidase and N-acetyl galactosaminidase, glycosidases in S. marcescens were subject to catabolite regulation by galactose, glucose, arabinose, mannose and N-acetyl-glucosamine. In commensal P. mandapamensis, at least 10 glycosidases were modestly induced during incubation on coral mucus. Galactose, arabinose, mannose, but not glucose or N-acetyl-glucosamine had a repressive effect on glycosidases in P. mandapamensis. Incubation with the mucus polymers upregulated 3 enzymatic activities in H. meridiana; glucose and galactose appear to be the preferred carbon source in this bacterium. Although all these bacteria were capable of producing the same glycosidases, the differences in the preferred carbon sources and patterns of enzymatic activities induced during growth on the mucus polymer in the presence of these carbon sources suggest that to establish themselves within the coral mucus surface layer commensals and pathogens rely on different enzymatic activities.