Abstract
BackgroundSponges (Porifera) harbor distinct microbial consortia within their mesohyl interior. We herein analysed the hologenomes of Stylissa carteri and Xestospongia testudinaria, which notably differ in their microbiome content.ResultsOur analysis revealed that S. carteri has an expanded repertoire of immunological domains, specifically Scavenger Receptor Cysteine-Rich (SRCR)-like domains, compared to X. testudinaria. On the microbial side, metatranscriptome analyses revealed an overrepresentation of potential symbiosis-related domains in X. testudinaria.ConclusionsOur findings provide genomic insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying host-symbiont coevolution and may serve as a roadmap for future hologenome analyses.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2501-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Sponges (Porifera) harbor distinct microbial consortia within their mesohyl interior
The estimated genome sizes obtained from our assemblies were comparable to experimentally determined genome sizes measured by flow cytometry (386.31 and 161.37 Mbp for Stylissa carteri (SC) and Xestospongia testudinaria (XT), respectively, see Methods). 26,967 and 22,337 gene models of high quality were predicted covering 94.5 and 94.3 % of the core eukaryotic genes for SC and XT, respectively
Expansion of innate immunological domains in sponge hosts We checked for protein domains that were unusually over- or under-represented in the studied sponges compared to other eukaryotes compiled in the SUPERFAMILY database [13]
Summary
Sponges (Porifera) harbor distinct microbial consortia within their mesohyl interior. We analysed the hologenomes of Stylissa carteri and Xestospongia testudinaria, which notably differ in their microbiome content. Results: Our analysis revealed that S. carteri has an expanded repertoire of immunological domains, Scavenger Receptor Cysteine-Rich (SRCR)-like domains, compared to X. testudinaria. Metatranscriptome analyses revealed an overrepresentation of potential symbiosis-related domains in X. testudinaria. Conclusions: Our findings provide genomic insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying host-symbiont coevolution and may serve as a roadmap for future hologenome analyses. Microbial symbionts are being increasingly recognised as deeply integral components of multicellular organisms that affect core host functions such as development, immunity, nutrition, and reproduction [1]. Sponges (Porifera) represent one of the oldest, still extant animal phyla. Sponges are globally distributed in all aquatic habitats from warm
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
