Assessing the bacterial communities of sponges inhabiting the remote western Indian Ocean island of Mayotte

Abstract

Marine sponges are known to host diverse and abundant communities of microbial symbionts. It has been generally assumed that the bacterial communities of low microbial abundance (LMA) sponges are less diverse than those of high microbial abundance (HMA) sponges. In this study, we used next‐generation sequencing technology to explore the bacterial communities of several biotopes including sponges, seawater, and sediment from the remote Western Indian Ocean island of Mayotte. The species investigated were the known LMA sponges: Jaspis splendens, Stylissa carteri, and Stylissa massa, and the known HMA sponges: Hyrtios erectus and Xestospongia testudinaria. In addition to this, we also investigated the following sponge species: Ectyoplasia coccinea, Paratetilla bacca, Liosina paradoxa, and Petrosia aff. spheroida of which the exact HMA/LMA status is unknown although we preliminarily classified them as HMA or LMA based on the status of closely related species. Certain HMA sponges shared similar bacterial communities dominated by Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi, whereas another species (E. coccinea) had a bacterial community closer to that of LMA sponges. Most LMA sponges housed a bacteriome dominated by Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, but the bacteriome of P. bacca also included dominant Chloroflexi and actinobacterial OTUs. Together with S. carteri, this sponge housed a more diverse bacterial community at the phylum, class, and order levels than HMA sponges. Although certain LMA sponges housed a bacterial community similar to the surrounding environment (seawater), they also included highly abundant, possibly species or genus specific, OTUs. Based on this study and small set of sponges studied, we conclude that a clear dichotomy between HMA and LMA sponges does not appear to exist.

Microorganisms Associated with the Marine Sponge Scopalina hapalia: A Reservoir of Bioactive Molecules to Slow Down the Aging Process

“…Indeed, sponges belonging to the genera Scopalina (order Scopalinida) have been characterized as LMA sponges, which are generally assumed to have a less diverse bacterial communities (low phylum-level diversity) than high microbial abundance (HMA) sponges [ 64 , 65 ]. Nonetheless, our result is in agreement with the study by de Voogd et al (2018), which reported that some LMA sponges from Mayotte harbored a more diverse bacterial community at the phylum level than HMA sponges (e.g., Stylissa carteri , order Scopalinida: 29) [ 66 ]. Our result supports their conclusion that a true dichotomy between HMA and LMA sponges does not appear to exist [ 66 ].…”

Population structure and microbial community diversity of two common tetillid sponges in a tropical reef lagoon

“…The Paratetilla sp. microbial community composition reported here is similar to what has been reported for Paratetilla in other biogeographic regions, with the dominance of Proteobacteria (Alpha-and Gammaproteobacteria), Chloroflexi, and Actinobacterial taxa (Thomas et al, 2016;De Voogd et al, 2018;Cleary et al, 2019). The Cinachyrella sp.…”

Composition and diversity of prokaryotic communities sampled from sponges and soft corals in Maldivian waters

“…In earlier papers, we described the morphological features and habitat preferences of H. erectus, J. splendens, L. paradoxa, P. cf. spiculifer and S. carteri Cleary et al,2015Cleary et al, , 2018de Voogd et al 2019). We were unable to identify the sponge Svenzea novo sp.…”

“…In previous studies, we assigned HMA or LMA status to the species H. erectus, J. splendens, S. carteri and L. paradoxa based on compositional traits of their prokaryotic communities. Hyrtios erectus was consistently classified as an HMA species (Cleary et al, 2015(Cleary et al, , 2018de Voogd et al 2015de Voogd et al , 2019 in line with Lurgi et al (2019). Likewise, P. cf.…”

“…Liosina paradoxa sampled from Mayotte was distinct from other LMA sponge species in having a composition similar to that of sediment, as opposed to having greater similarity with water samples as was the case with other LMA species such as S. carteri. As noted by de Voogd et al (2019), both H. erectus and L. paradoxa have skeletons, which consist of sponge fibres with extraneous detritus, sediment grains, foraminiferal shells and foreign spicules (from sponges, soft corals and tunicates). Despite H. erectus being also often embedded in reef sediment, it contained a prokaryotic community similar to that of other HMA sponge species.…”