Prokaryotic communities of Indo-Pacific giant barrel sponges are more strongly influenced by geography than host phylogeny.

T Swierts,D F R Cleary,N J De Voogd

doi:10.1093/femsec/fiy194

T Swierts, D F R Cleary + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiy194

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Abstract

ABSTRACTSponges harbor complex communities of microorganisms that carry out essential roles for the functioning and survival of their hosts. In some cases, genetically related sponges from different geographic regions share microbes, while in other cases microbial communities are more similar in unrelated sponges collected from the same location. To better understand how geography and host phylogeny cause variation in the prokaryotic community of sponges, we compared the prokaryotic community of 44 giant barrel sponges (Xestospongia spp.). These sponges belonged to six reproductively isolated genetic groups from eight areas throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Using Illumina sequencing, we obtained 440 000 sequences of the 16S rRNA gene V3V4 variable region that were assigned to 3795 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The prokaryotic community of giant barrel sponges was characterized by 71 core OTUs (i.e. OTUs present in each specimen) that represented 57.5% of the total number of sequences. The relative abundance of these core OTUs varied significantly among samples, and this variation was predominantly related to the geographic origin of the sample. These results show that in giant barrel sponges, the variation in the prokaryotic community is primarily associated with geography as opposed to phylogenetic relatedness.

Highlights

Sponges are among the oldest living multicellular animals and form symbiotic relationships with complex communities of microorganisms including archaea, bacteria and single-celled eukaryotes (Hentschel et al 2012)
Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V3V4 variable region from 44 giant barrel sponges throughout the Indo-Pacific yielded 440 000 sequences
The prokaryotic community of giant barrel sponges in the Indo-Pacific is characterized by a relatively high number of core operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (i.e. OTUs present in each specimen) that represent the majority of the total number of sequences

Summary

Introduction

Sponges are among the oldest living multicellular animals and form symbiotic relationships with complex communities of microorganisms including archaea, bacteria and single-celled eukaryotes (Hentschel et al 2012) These microbial symbionts are essential for the functioning and survival of marine sponges, and play key roles in processes such as CO2-fixation, nutrient cycling, secondary metabolite production and the conversion of dissolved organic matter into particulate organic matter Due to this intricate relationship, sponges are often referred to as the ’sponge holobiont’: the combination of the sponge host and all residing microorganisms (Webster and Thomas 2016; Pita et al 2018)

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