Marine Sponges Maintain Stable Bacterial Communities Between Reef Sites

Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites ...

This study compared the in-situ bacterial community composition of four sponge species sampled at two reef sites with different relative coral to algae benthic cover composition and assessed the stability of two of these host-symbiont relationships through a reciprocal transplantation experiment between the two reef sites .

An overall stable bacterial community composition was maintained across the two sites in all sponge species, with a high degree of host-specificity.

Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites ...

An overall stable bacterial community composition was maintained across the two sites in all sponge species, with a high degree of host-specificity. Furthermore, the core bacterial communities of the sponges remained stable also after a 21-day transplantation period, although a minor shift was observed in less abundant taxa (< 1%).

Additionally, we assessed the bacterial community composition of two of these sponge species before and after a reciprocal transplantation experiment between the sites . An overall stable bacterial community composition was maintained across the two sites in all sponge species, with a high degree of host-specificity.

Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites ...

Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites with different coral to algae cover ratios

After 12 days of exposure sponges appear to opportunistically feed on different food sources without having to adjust their metabolic pathways or associated prokaryotic communities , suggesting that sponges could be well-adapted to predicted changes in food source availability due to coral-to-algal phase shifts on many coral reefs .

Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites ...

Seasonal stability of the sponge microbiota supports the hypothesis of host-specific, stable associations between bacteria and sponges , and provides an empirical baseline for diagnosing abnormal shifts in symbiont communities .

This page is a summary of: Marine sponges maintain stable bacterial communities between reef sites with different coral to algae cover ratios, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, August 2021, Oxford University Press (OUP),

Key Details About Marine Sponges Maintain Stable Bacterial Communities Between Reef Sites

Given the current coral to algal phase shift on coral reefs , we investigated whether the sponge -associated bacterial communities of four sponge species, with either high or low microbial abundances (HMA and LMA), remain stable at two reefs sites with different coral to algae cover ratios.

used electron microscopy (Table 1) to survey the microbial communities within 13 sponge species and reported two general groups of sponges : (1) those with high bacterial abundance, dense tissue, and small choanocyte chambers and (2) species with low bacterial abundance, well-irrigated and low-density tissue, and well-developed aquiferous systems.