The Relationship Between Microbiomes and Selective Regimes in the Sponge Genus Ircinia

Sponges are often densely populated by microbes that benefit their hosts through nutrition and bioactive secondary metabolites; however, sponges must simultaneously contend with the toxicity of microbes and thwart microbial overgrowth. Despite these fundamental tenets of sponge biology, the patterns...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in microbiology Vol. 12; p. 607289
Main Authors Kelly, Joseph B, Carlson, David E, Low, Jun Siong, Rice, Tyler, Thacker, Robert W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 11.03.2021
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Summary:Sponges are often densely populated by microbes that benefit their hosts through nutrition and bioactive secondary metabolites; however, sponges must simultaneously contend with the toxicity of microbes and thwart microbial overgrowth. Despite these fundamental tenets of sponge biology, the patterns of selection in the host sponges' genomes that underlie tolerance and control of their microbiomes are still poorly understood. To elucidate these patterns of selection, we performed a population genetic analysis on multiple species of from Belize, Florida, and Panama using an -outlier approach on transcriptome-annotated RADseq loci. As part of the analysis, we delimited species boundaries among seven growth forms of . Our analyses identified balancing selection in immunity genes that have implications for the hosts' tolerance of high densities of microbes. Additionally, our results support the hypothesis that each of the seven growth forms constitutes a distinct species that is characterized by a unique microbiome. These results illuminate the evolutionary pathways that promote stable associations between host sponges and their microbiomes, and that potentially facilitate ecological divergence among species.
Bibliography:Edited by: Zhiyong Li, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
This article was submitted to Microbial Symbioses, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology
Reviewed by: Matthew Agler, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany; Lucia Pita, GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
ISSN:1664-302X
1664-302X
DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2021.607289