The connection between Sea of Marmara biodiversity and mucilage occurrence incidence

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Karahan A., Deliceırmak S., Esti M., Kalkan Tezcan E., Öztürk E., Örek H.

8th Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Symposium 7-9 September 2022, Ankara, Turkey, Ankara, Türkiye, 7 - 09 Eylül 2022, ss.30

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Ankara
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.30
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The connection between Sea of Marmara biodiversity and mucilage occurrence

incidence

Arzu Karahan1, Selin Deliceırmak2, Mertcan Esti1, Evrim Kalkan Tezcan1, Esra .ztürk1, Hasan .rek1

1Middle East Technical University, Institute of Marine Sciences, 33731, Erdemli, Mersin, Turkey

2Near East University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Nicosia,

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Mucilage shapes because of the sudden death of certain bacteria and/or phytoplankton right after

their bloom. During the processes, they do not sink and decay quickly; as a result, polysaccharides are

produced, and the hydrocarbons increase in the seawater. Mucilage is also formed by the benthic

filamentous macroalgae besides the pelagic species in the water column. The mucus-like structure

negatively affects the organisms by either accumulating on the soft and hard bottom of the seabed or

by directly covering the organisms. This study aims to determine the taxa responsible for mucilage

formation in the Sea of Marmara using 16S amplicon sequencing and metabarcoding techniques (18S

and ITS) and to understand their possible effects on the Sea of Marmara ecosystem. Within this scope,

the prokaryotic (archaea and bacteria) and eukaryotic diversity in 30 mucilage samples taken from 23

stations representing a large part of the Sea of Marmara are studied using the Next Generation

Sequencing technique. In the study, the prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity of the mucilage in the

.ınarcık Pit and Izmit Bay stations has been revealed by now. Bioinformatic analysis of the other 28

samples is ongoing. Interpreting the genetic data with the physical and chemical parameters, those

collected from the mucilage sampling stations within this study scope and the other stations representing

the whole Sea of Marmara are essential to reveal the environmental triggers that cause mucilage

formation or formation induced by mucilage.