Microbial diversity of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesii in response to anthropogenic activities

Abstract

Establishment of adequate conservation areas represents a challenging but crucial task in the conservation of genetic diversity and biological variability. Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems and organisms are steadily increasing. Whether and to what extent these pressures influence marine genetic biodiversity is only starting to be revealed. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we analysed the microbial community structure of 33 individuals of the habitat-forming glass sponge Vazella pourtalesii, as well as reference seawater, sediment, and biofilm samples. We assessed how two anthropogenic impacts, i.e. habitat destruction by trawling and artificial substrate provision (moorings made of composite plastic), correspond with in situ V. pourtalesii microbiome variability. In addition, we evaluated the role of two bottom fishery closures in preserving sponge-associated microbial diversity on the Scotian Shelf, Canada. Our results illustrate that V. pourtalesii sponges collected from protected sites within fishery closures contained distinct and taxonomically largely novel microbial communities. At the trawled site we recorded significant quantitative differences in distinct microbial phyla, such as a reduction in Nitrospinae in the four sponges from this site and the environmental references. Individuals of V. pourtalesii growing on the mooring were significantly enriched in Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia and Cyanobacteria in comparison to sponge individuals growing on the natural seabed. Due to a concomitant enrichment of these taxa in the mooring biofilm, we propose that biofilms on artificial substrates may ‘prime’ sponge-associated microbial communities when small sponges settle on such substrates. These observations likely have relevant management implications when considering the increase of artificial substrates in the marine environment, e.g., marine litter, off-shore wind parks, and petroleum platforms.

A Microbial Nitrogen Engine Modulated by Bacteriosyncytia in Hexactinellid Sponges: Ecological Implications for Deep-Sea Communities

“…If this is so, it means that the functional integration between the sponge and the microbes involved in the ammonium routes is more delicate and habitat-dependent than that involved in the phosphate metabolism. In line with this view, a recent study revealed significant differences in the microbiota between individuals of V. pourtalesii grown on natural substrata and individuals grown on adjacent artificial substrata that raised a mere couple of meters from the sea bottom (Busch et al, 2021). The individuals growing on the artificial substratum were significantly enriched in Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia and Cyanobacteria compared to those growing on natural substrata.…”

“…In order to examine the microbial diversity in the studied sponges, 13 individuals of V. pourtalesii were collected from Sambro Bank and 13 of S. rosea from Schulz Bank. The sample processing procedure is described in detail elsewhere (Busch et al, 2020(Busch et al, , 2021; see also these references for data availability). Briefly, from each sponge individual chunks of tissue were subsampled, rinsed and frozen at −80 • C until DNA extraction.…”

Impact of growth media and pressure on the diversity and antimicrobial activity of isolates from two species of hexactinellid sponge

“…Members of the genera Hertwigia and Pheronema were absent from the Steinert study. Using the amplicon sequence variant (ASV) technique of classification [ 42 ], a greater dissimilarity in alpha-diversity was also observed between 33 replicates of the hexactinellid Vazella pourtalesii , compared to the microbiome of surrounding seawater and sediment, at ASV and phylum level [ 24 ]. It is therefore relevant to consider the differences in community composition between biological replicates of the same host species, particularly for those that have not been previously investigated.…”

Life in the Fast Lane: Modeling the Fate of Glass Sponge Larvae in the Gulf Stream

“…Vertical distribution has important consequences for larval transport and dispersal trajectories (Edwards et al, 2007;Gary et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020). However, the vertical movements of V. pourtalesii larvae, like those of many sponge species, remain unknown (Kenchington et al, 2019), although settlement of V. pourtalesii has been observed on artificial substrates about 5 m off the bottom (Busch et al, 2020). In the absence of better information, larval release was modeled at three depths: the average seabed depth of recorded occurrences of V. pourtalesii in the relevant regional group (Table 1), mid-water from the seabed to the surface, and the surface, to capture three vertical strata that might be reached through active swimming behavior (Vaz et al, 2016).…”