Diversity and dynamics of bacterial communities associated with Haematococcus pluvialis at different life stages

The physiological performance and productivity of microalgae are closely associated with their bacterial communities. Haematococcus pluvialis is an important commercial species and has been widely studied in astaxanthin production. So far, little is known about its bacterial community in the phycosphere, especially at different life stages. In this study, we analyzed the diversity and dynamics of the bacterial community of H. pluvialis at exponential growth stage, stationary stage, and red aplanospore stage through high-throughput sequencing based on 16S rRNA genes. The results showed the differences in bacterial community compositions among three life stages. The richness and diversity of bacterial community at red aplanospore stage were significantly higher than those at the other two life stages. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were two dominant phyla, and Chryseobacterium and Bosea were two dominant genera. The results of this study provide important information regarding the bacterial compositions and dominant species associated with H. pluvialis, which may have potential application in cultivation yield improvement and astaxanthin production.