Relationships between Host Phylogeny, Host Type and Bacterial Community Diversity in Cold-Water Coral Reef Sponges

Abstract

Cold-water coral reefs are known to locally enhance the diversity of deep-sea fauna as well as of microbes. Sponges are among the most diverse faunal groups in these ecosystems, and many of them host large abundances of microbes in their tissues. In this study, twelve sponge species from three cold-water coral reefs off Norway were investigated for the relationship between sponge phylogenetic classification (species and family level), as well as sponge type (high versus low microbial abundance), and the diversity of sponge-associated bacterial communities, taking also geographic location and water depth into account. Community analysis by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) showed that as many as 345 (79%) of the 437 different bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected in the dataset were shared between sponges and sediments, while only 70 (16%) appeared purely sponge-associated. Furthermore, changes in bacterial community structure were significantly related to sponge species (63% of explained community variation), sponge family (52%) or sponge type (30%), whereas mesoscale geographic distances and water depth showed comparatively small effects (<5% each). In addition, a highly significant, positive relationship between bacterial community dissimilarity and sponge phylogenetic distance was observed within the ancient family of the Geodiidae. Overall, the high diversity of sponges in cold-water coral reefs, combined with the observed sponge-related variation in bacterial community structure, support the idea that sponges represent heterogeneous, yet structured microbial habitats that contribute significantly to enhancing bacterial diversity in deep-sea ecosystems.

Bacterial profiling of White Plague Disease across corals and oceans indicates a conserved and distinct disease microbiome

“…Richness and diversity of bacterial taxa associated with two Orbicella species were similar within the same condition (HH and DD) as has been shown for microbial communities of closely related sponge species (Schoettner et al . ). We also found higher numbers of bacterial taxa associated with diseased samples, which concurs with previous studies on coral disease (Pantos et al .…”

Latitudinal variation in the microbiome of the sponge Ircinia campana correlates with host haplotype but not anti-predatory chemical defense

“…Vertical symbiont transmission is documented in numerous sponges (Ereskovsky et al 2005, Oren et al 2005, Enticknap et al 2006, de Caralt et al 2007, Sharp et al 2007, Lee et al 2009, Schöttner et al 2013, including the genus Ircinia (Schmitt et al 2007), and links the evolutionary trajectory of host and symbiont. Accordingly, reproductive isolation of host populations may restrict (Marty & Pawlik 2015), indicated by the dashed line the exchange of vertically transmitted microbes or genes that regulate the microbiome between host populations, resulting in divergent microbial communities over time (Schöttner et al 2013, Easson & Thacker 2014. The observed geographic distribution of host haplotypes for I. campana correlated with symbiont community similarity, suggesting that limited gene flow between SAB and Caribbean populations of I. campana may contribute to the observed latitudinal variation in symbiont communities.…”

Fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of Antarctic marine sponges of the genus Latrunculia

“…trace amounts detected (\0.5 %); -none detected ? trace amounts detected (\0.5 %); -none detected Polar Biol geographic distances and water depth showed comparatively small effects (\5 % each) (Schöttner et al 2013). Sponges are unique among the animal phyla in terms of the diversity of their FAs, with generally high levels of LCFAs (i.e., C24-C30), a high degree of unsaturation (mainly PUFAs) and a high incidence of branched and oddcarbon-atom FAs (Bergquist et al 1984;Rod'kina et al 2003;Rezanka and Sigler 2009).…”