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Article

The Community Structure of Aerobic Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria in Biocrusts on Tropical Coral Islands and Their Application in Ecological Restoration, South China Sea

1
CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Microorganisms 2025, 13(6), 1265; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061265
Submission received: 26 March 2025 / Revised: 14 May 2025 / Accepted: 20 May 2025 / Published: 29 May 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Microbiology)

Abstract

Biological soil crusts (referred to as biocrusts) constitute prominent components within the ecosystem of tropical coral islands in the South China Sea, covering approximately 6.25% of the island’s terrestrial surface. Biocrusts are the key to the restoration of the island ecosystem. It is widely acknowledged that phototrophic microorganisms profoundly contribute to biocrust formation and development. They provide fixed carbon and nitrogen and produce exopolysaccharides for the BSC ecosystems. Although aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (AAPB) are an important functional group of phototrophic microorganisms, the community characteristics of AAPB in coral island biocrusts and their role in the formation of biocrusts have rarely been reported. In this study, we employed amplifications of the pufM gene to characterize the AAPB communities of biocrusts on a tropical coral island. The outcomes revealed a discernible augmentation in both the abundance and richness of AAPB concurrent with the formation of biocrusts, concomitantly with a decrement in diversity. Within the AAPB communities, the Pseudomonadota (Proteobacteria) phylum emerges as the prevailing dominion, indicating marked differentiations in terms of family and genus compositions between the biocrust and bare soil. Canonical correlation analysis has unveiled a robust and meaningful correlation between the AAPB composition and the attributes of the soil, including total nitrogen, total organic carbon, total phosphorus, pH, and calcium content. Furthermore, co-occurrence network patterns shift with biocrust formation, enhancing stability. Meanwhile, keystone taxa analysis revealed specific OTUs associated with each soil type, with genus Brevundimonas as the main group. Furthermore, pure-culture AAPB strains isolated from biocrusts exhibited a panorama of diversity, predominantly belonging to Pseudomonadota. Particularly, the Skermanella and Erythrobacter genera demonstrated strong exopolysaccharide secretion and sand-binding capabilities. This study sheds light on the significant functional role of AAPB in tropical coral island biocrusts, expanding our understanding of their contribution to ecosystem services, and providing valuable insights for ecological restoration efforts on coral islands.
Keywords: tropical coral island; biocrust; aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria; diversity; ecological restoration; environmental driver factors tropical coral island; biocrust; aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria; diversity; ecological restoration; environmental driver factors

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wen, J.; Mai, Z.; Li, J.; Wang, L.; Zhang, S. The Community Structure of Aerobic Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria in Biocrusts on Tropical Coral Islands and Their Application in Ecological Restoration, South China Sea. Microorganisms 2025, 13, 1265. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061265

AMA Style

Wen J, Mai Z, Li J, Wang L, Zhang S. The Community Structure of Aerobic Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria in Biocrusts on Tropical Coral Islands and Their Application in Ecological Restoration, South China Sea. Microorganisms. 2025; 13(6):1265. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061265

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wen, Jing, Zhimao Mai, Jie Li, Lin Wang, and Si Zhang. 2025. "The Community Structure of Aerobic Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria in Biocrusts on Tropical Coral Islands and Their Application in Ecological Restoration, South China Sea" Microorganisms 13, no. 6: 1265. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061265

APA Style

Wen, J., Mai, Z., Li, J., Wang, L., & Zhang, S. (2025). The Community Structure of Aerobic Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria in Biocrusts on Tropical Coral Islands and Their Application in Ecological Restoration, South China Sea. Microorganisms, 13(6), 1265. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13061265

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