Donahue Megan J.

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Donahue
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Megan J.
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  • Article
    Coral reef biofilm bacterial diversity and successional trajectories are structured by reef benthic organisms and shift under chronic nutrient enrichment
    (Nature Research, 2021-12-01) Remple, Kristina L. ; Silbiger, Nyssa J. ; Quinlan, Zachary A. ; Fox, Michael D. ; Wegley Kelly, Linda ; Donahue, Megan J. ; Nelson, Craig E.
    Work on marine biofilms has primarily focused on host-associated habitats for their roles in larval recruitment and disease dynamics; little is known about the factors regulating the composition of reef environmental biofilms. To contrast the roles of succession, benthic communities and nutrients in structuring marine biofilms, we surveyed bacteria communities in biofilms through a six-week succession in aquaria containing macroalgae, coral, or reef sand factorially crossed with three levels of continuous nutrient enrichment. Our findings demonstrate how biofilm successional trajectories diverge from temporal dynamics of the bacterioplankton and how biofilms are structured by the surrounding benthic organisms and nutrient enrichment. We identify a suite of biofilm-associated bacteria linked with the orthogonal influences of corals, algae and nutrients and distinct from the overlying water. Our results provide a comprehensive characterization of marine biofilm successional dynamics and contextualize the impact of widespread changes in reef community composition and nutrient pollution on biofilm community structure.
  • Article
    Spatial extent of dysbiosis in the branching coral Pocillopora damicornis during an acute disease outbreak
    (Nature Research, 2023-10-02) Greene, Austin ; Moriarty, Tess ; Leggatt, William ; Ainsworth, Tracy D. ; Donahue, Megan J. ; Raymundo, Laurie J
    Globally, coral reefs face increasing disease prevalence and large-scale outbreak events. These outbreaks offer insights into microbial and functional patterns of coral disease, including early indicators of disease that may be present in visually-healthy tissues. Outbreak events also allow investigation of how reef-building corals, typically colonial organisms, respond to disease. We studied Pocillopora damicornis during an acute tissue loss disease outbreak on Guam to determine whether dysbiosis was present in visually-healthy tissues ahead of advancing disease lesions. These data reveal that coral fragments with visual evidence of disease are expectedly dysbiotic with high microbial and metabolomic variability. However, visually-healthy tissues from the same colonies lacked dysbiosis, suggesting disease containment near the affected area. These results challenge the idea of using broad dysbiosis as a pre-visual disease indicator and prompt reevaluation of disease assessment in colonial organisms such as reef-building corals.