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Diversity and structure of the deep-sea sponge microbiome in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Lookup NU author(s): Dr James StachORCiD, Professor Paul RaceORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

Sponges (phylum Porifera) harbour specific microbial communities that drive the ecology and evolution of the host. Understanding the structure and dynamics of these communities is emerging as a primary focus in marine microbial ecology research. Much of the work to date has focused on sponges from warm and shallow coastal waters, while sponges from the deep ocean remain less well studied. Here, we present a metataxonomic analysis of the microbial consortia associated with 23 individual deep-sea sponges. We identify a high abundance of archaea relative to bacteria across these communities, with certain sponge microbiomes comprising more than 90 % archaea. Specifically, the archaeal family Nitrosopumilaceae is prolific, comprising over 99 % of all archaeal reads. Our analysis revealed that sponge microbial communities reflect the host sponge phylogeny, indicating a key role for host taxonomy in defining microbiome composition. Our work confirms the contribution of both evolutionary and environmental processes to the composition of microbial communities in deep-sea sponges.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Williams SE, Varliero G, Lurgi M, Stach JEM, Race PR, Curnow P

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Microbiology

Year: 2024

Volume: 170

Issue: 7

Online publication date: 29/07/2024

Acceptance date: 01/07/2024

Date deposited: 12/08/2024

ISSN (print): 1350-0872

ISSN (electronic): 1465-2080

Publisher: The Microbiology Society

URL: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001478

DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001478

PubMed id: 39073401

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