Physicochemical properties and bacterial diversity of pristine and stressed Malaysian mangrove ecosystems
Getha Krishnasamy A * , Jeyanny Vijayanathan B , Nur Nabilah Alias B and Norlia Basherudin BA
B
Getha Krishnasamy is a Senior Research Officer at the Biomolecules Research Laboratory, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). She is the curator of the FRIM Microbial Culture Collection, and an elected Executive Committee member of the Malaysian Society for Microbiology. She has extensive expertise in microbial research that focuses on actinomycetes, endophytic bacteria and fungi isolated from various environments. Getha’s main interest is in investigating how microbes interact with each other in the environment, and harnessing these microbes for agricultural and industrial uses. Her current research involves innovative fermentation methods for production of bioactive compounds from basidiomycetes. |
Jeyanny Vijayanathan is a Senior Research Officer and Head of the Soil Management Branch in the Forestry Biotechnology Division. She has been elected as the global soil expert for the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils by the FAO. She has extensive expertise in soil chemistry, fertility, plant nutrition and soil carbon dynamics across forestry, agriculture, environmental and degraded ecosystems. Her current research involves assessment on soil health and plant productivity in the changing environment. |
Nur Nabilah Alias is a researcher at the Genetics Laboratory, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Her research focuses on next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multi-omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and metagenomics. She has expertise in bioinformatics, particularly in the processing and interpretation of high-throughput sequencing data for multi-omics studies. Her research also involves plant DNA profiling, DNA barcoding and the development of SSR markers to support genetic and evolutionary studies. Currently, she focuses on population genomics to investigate population structure and adaptive variation, especially in response to climate change. |
Norlia Basherudin is a Senior Research Officer at the Genetics Laboratory, Department of Forestry Biotechnology, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Her research specialises in plant molecular biology, with a focus on genetic engineering, gene function analysis and the detection of living modified organisms (LMOs). Her current projects include the production of hairy root cultures expressing proinsulin, the development of detection methods for genetically modified eucalyptus, and the characterisation of genes involved in quassinoid biosynthesis. |
Abstract
Recent microbiome research highlights the complexity and specialisation of microbial communities living in mangrove ecosystems. Distinct prokaryotic community structures reflect the unique environmental conditions and ecological processes in these habitats, emphasising their key roles in biogeochemical transformation and nutrient cycling. Here we highlight the changes in bacterial diversity and community structures in sediments from two contrasting Malaysian mangrove ecosystems, Tanjung Piai mangroves as a degraded pollution-affected site and Matang Mangrove Forest as a pristine well-preserved site, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach. Higher organic carbon and organic matter contents in Matang, in contrast to the higher available phosphorus content in Tanjung Piai sediment, clearly showed differences in the bacterial diversity of both sites. We also observed higher species richness and community diversity in Tanjung Piai, suggesting a more heterogeneous bacterial population potentially influenced by external nutrient inputs and other confounding factors due to anthropogenic activities. Collectively, the findings suggested a possible relationship between specific anthropogenic activity-related variables in mangrove sediment and individual bacterial taxa. Thus, understanding the complex interactions of soil sediment microbiome within the habitat could facilitate the assessment of impact from stress factors and identify mangrove ecosystems needing rehabilitation, as part of the mangrove conservation strategies.
Keywords: amplicon sequencing, anthropogenic activity, bacterial diversity, sediment microbiome, soil physicochemical, tropical mangrove.
Getha Krishnasamy is a Senior Research Officer at the Biomolecules Research Laboratory, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). She is the curator of the FRIM Microbial Culture Collection, and an elected Executive Committee member of the Malaysian Society for Microbiology. She has extensive expertise in microbial research that focuses on actinomycetes, endophytic bacteria and fungi isolated from various environments. Getha’s main interest is in investigating how microbes interact with each other in the environment, and harnessing these microbes for agricultural and industrial uses. Her current research involves innovative fermentation methods for production of bioactive compounds from basidiomycetes. |
Jeyanny Vijayanathan is a Senior Research Officer and Head of the Soil Management Branch in the Forestry Biotechnology Division. She has been elected as the global soil expert for the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils by the FAO. She has extensive expertise in soil chemistry, fertility, plant nutrition and soil carbon dynamics across forestry, agriculture, environmental and degraded ecosystems. Her current research involves assessment on soil health and plant productivity in the changing environment. |
Nur Nabilah Alias is a researcher at the Genetics Laboratory, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Her research focuses on next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multi-omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and metagenomics. She has expertise in bioinformatics, particularly in the processing and interpretation of high-throughput sequencing data for multi-omics studies. Her research also involves plant DNA profiling, DNA barcoding and the development of SSR markers to support genetic and evolutionary studies. Currently, she focuses on population genomics to investigate population structure and adaptive variation, especially in response to climate change. |
Norlia Basherudin is a Senior Research Officer at the Genetics Laboratory, Department of Forestry Biotechnology, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Her research specialises in plant molecular biology, with a focus on genetic engineering, gene function analysis and the detection of living modified organisms (LMOs). Her current projects include the production of hairy root cultures expressing proinsulin, the development of detection methods for genetically modified eucalyptus, and the characterisation of genes involved in quassinoid biosynthesis. |
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