Manipulating Ulva-associated bacterial communities: a possible strategy for bacterial control in IMTA-RAS cultures?

As epibiotic communities in macroalgae may be randomly formed by functionally equivalent guild members present in the surrounding seawater, we hypothesize that experimental colonization of Ulva spp. with selected algal-epiphytic APB could control pathogenic or opportunistic bacteria in IMTA-RAS systems, improving fish health. Samples of Ulva australis and U. rigida, sharing the same intertidal area, taken in Galicia (NW Spain) showed that bacterial communities on Ulva species were distinct from planktonic bacteria and showed host specificity.