PHYLOGENETIC DIVERSITY AND EXOENZYMES PRODUCTION OF BACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH CORALLIUM RUBRUM SAMPLED IN THREE DIFFERENT ITALIAN AREAS

Coral holobiont includes diverse eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms. Over the last decade different studies have been aimed at characterizing the coral microbiota. The aim of this work was to isolate and characterize the culturable bacteria associated to C. rubrum collected from different Italian areas. The bacterial isolates were tested for production of hydrolytic exoenzymes (protease, lipase, mucinase, DNase, and polysaccharide degrading enzymes). Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas were found to be the most frequent genera associated to C. rubrum. Amylopectinase, lipase, and protease were the most common exoenzymes produced by the isolates.