Culture-independent characterization of bacterial communities associated with the cold-water Lophelia pertusa in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico

A study was conducted to characterize the microbial associates of Lophelia pertusa in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico that are known to benefit the corals by cycling carbon, fixing nitrogen, chelating iron, and producing antibiotics that protect the coral from other microbes. The studies identified several new bacterial associates and two Lophelia-specific groups, a group of Mycoplasma spp. and a cluster of symbiont-like thiotrophs and offered insight into the effects of environmental gradients on the microbial diversity of samples.