Influence of environmental variation on symbiotic bacterial communities of two temperate sponges

Abstract

Sponges are an important component of temperate subtidal marine ecosystems, with a range of important functional roles and extensive symbiotic relationships with microorganisms. However, much remains unknown about their relationships with these symbiotic microorganisms, and specifically, the role that these symbionts play in sponge physiology, feeding and adaptation to local environmental conditions. Changes in environmental factors may alter relationships between sponges and their symbionts, which could conceivably influence the abundance and distribution patterns of some temperate sponge species. Here, we analyzed the effect of transplantation of sponges between different habitats to test the effect of changes in environmental conditions on the stability of the bacterial communities in specimens of Tethya bergquistae and Ecionemia alata, based on pyrosequencing of amplified 16S rRNA genes. Bacterial communities differed markedly between the two host species. While some morphological changes were observed in transplanted sponges, transplantation had little overall effect on sponge-associated bacterial communities at either phylum or 97%-OTU level. Our results show the importance of host species and also the stability of sponge-associated bacterial communities under environmental variation.

Influence of canopy-forming algae on temperate sponge assemblages

“…Consequently, these temporal changes of greater magnitude may have affected encrusting species such as C. incrustans in removal plots. Although previous research has reported detrimental effects of light in sciaphilic sponges (with absence of cyanobacteria) transplanted to high-light environments (Wilkinson & Vacelet, 1979), a direct effect due to increased light levels on adult of C. incrustans and other species we studied is unlikely as it was demonstrated by a recent study on other temperate sponge species (Cárdenas et al, 2014).…”

Intraspecific Variation in Microbial Symbiont Communities of the Sun Sponge, Hymeniacidonheliophila, from Intertidal and Subtidal Habitats

“…While a relatively small proportion of North Carolina H. heliophila OTUs matched Gulf of Mexico OTUs, the matching OTUs comprised dominant taxa that constituted over half of the total clone library sequences. Similarly, a low number of symbiont clades were common to H. heliophila from the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, yet they accounted for half of the total symbiont communities (25). The maintenance of a species-specific microbial community across broad geographic distances indicates intimate hostsymbiont associations that may be maintained by some degree of vertical symbiont transmission, as reported for other sponge spe-cies (e.g., see reference 61), although further experimentation is needed to document the passage of microbes to H. heliophila sponge embryos.…”

“…In another study, experimental warming induced changes in the microbial community structure of Rhopaloeides odorabile (24). Notably, these shifts in symbiont communities were elicited by drastic changes in environmental factors (light versus dark, high pollution levels, temperatures exceeding the annual maxima), while symbiont communities in sponges were stable across less intense changes in light exposure (25), eutrophication (26), and temperature (16). Environmental conditions may play a role in the structuring of the microbial community of marine sponges, in particular, when fluctuations are intense, but more research is needed to gain a better understanding of the effects of abiotic factors on sponge-microbe symbioses.…”

Marine Sponge Derived Natural Products between 2001 and 2010: Trends and Opportunities for Discovery of Bioactives

“…However, a recent study showed the stability of bacterial communities in two temperate sponges exposed to environmental variation, which is consistent with previous research on other temperate sponges. This study used next generation sequencing and revealed how different components of bacterial communities associated with Ecionemia alata and Tethya bergquistae responded to environmental variation in situ [196]. The similarity observed in bacterial communities among specimens occupying different habitats suggests that environmental variation occurring in those habitats does not affect the stability of the community, and hence, most likely does not radically alter the metabolism of these sponges.…”

“…The similarity observed in bacterial communities among specimens occupying different habitats suggests that environmental variation occurring in those habitats does not affect the stability of the community, and hence, most likely does not radically alter the metabolism of these sponges. The study recommends further study to improve the understanding of the role of microbial symbiont communities which may affect the physiology and ecology of sponges on temperate rocky reefs [196]. …”