Sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities with potential for natural product synthesis
Stephanie B. Helber
Georg Steinert
Yu-Chen Wu
Sven Rohde
Ute Hentschel
Christopher A. Muhando
Peter J. Schupp
Abstract
Sponges are one of the most dominant organisms in marine ecosystems. One reason for their success is their association with microorganisms that are besides the host itself responsible for the chemical defence. Sponge abundances have been increasing on coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and are predicted to increase further with rising anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs. However, there is a paucity of information on chemical ecology of sponges from the WIO and their prokaryotic community composition. We used a combination of Illumina sequencing and a predictive metagenomic analysis to (i) assess the prokaryotic community composition of sponges from Zanzibar, (ii) predict the presence of KEGG metabolic pathways responsible for bioactive compound production and (iii) relate their presence to the degree of observed chemical defence in their respective sponge host. We found that sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities that are host species-specific. Sponge-species and respective specimens that showed strong chemical defences in previous studies were also predicted to be highly enriched in various pathways responsible for secondary metabolite production. Hence, the combined sequencing and predictive metagenomic approach proved to be a useful indicator for the metabolic potential of sponge holobionts.
Helber S.B., Steinert G., Wu Y.-C., Rohde S., Hentschel U., Muhando C.A. and Schupp P.J. (2019) Sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities with potential for natural product synthesis. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 95(4): fiz026. 10.1093/femsec/fiz026
@article{Helber2019,
Title = {Sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities with potential for natural product synthesis},
Author = {Helber, Stephanie B. and Steinert, Georg and Wu, Yu-Chen and Rohde, Sven and Hentschel, Ute and Muhando, Christopher A. and Schupp, Peter J.},
Editor = {},
Journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology},
Year = {2019},
Pages = {fiz026},
Volume = {95},
Doi = {10.1093/femsec/fiz026},
Abstract = {Sponges are one of the most dominant organisms in marine ecosystems. One reason for their success is their association with microorganisms that are besides the host itself responsible for the chemical defence. Sponge abundances have been increasing on coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and are predicted to increase further with rising anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs. However, there is a paucity of information on chemical ecology of sponges from the WIO and their prokaryotic community composition. We used a combination of Illumina sequencing and a predictive metagenomic analysis to (i) assess the prokaryotic community composition of sponges from Zanzibar, (ii) predict the presence of KEGG metabolic pathways responsible for bioactive compound production and (iii) relate their presence to the degree of observed chemical defence in their respective sponge host. We found that sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities that are host species-specific. Sponge-species and respective specimens that showed strong chemical defences in previous studies were also predicted to be highly enriched in various pathways responsible for secondary metabolite production. Hence, the combined sequencing and predictive metagenomic approach proved to be a useful indicator for the metabolic potential of sponge holobionts.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Helber, Stephanie B.
AU - Steinert, Georg
AU - Wu, Yu-Chen
AU - Rohde, Sven
AU - Hentschel, Ute
AU - Muhando, Christopher A.
AU - Schupp, Peter J.
TI - Sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities with potential for natural product synthesis
T2 - FEMS Microbiology Ecology
PY - 2019
SP - fiz026
VL - 95
DO - 10.1093/femsec/fiz026
AB - Sponges are one of the most dominant organisms in marine ecosystems. One reason for their success is their association with microorganisms that are besides the host itself responsible for the chemical defence. Sponge abundances have been increasing on coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and are predicted to increase further with rising anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs. However, there is a paucity of information on chemical ecology of sponges from the WIO and their prokaryotic community composition. We used a combination of Illumina sequencing and a predictive metagenomic analysis to (i) assess the prokaryotic community composition of sponges from Zanzibar, (ii) predict the presence of KEGG metabolic pathways responsible for bioactive compound production and (iii) relate their presence to the degree of observed chemical defence in their respective sponge host. We found that sponges from Zanzibar host diverse prokaryotic communities that are host species-specific. Sponge-species and respective specimens that showed strong chemical defences in previous studies were also predicted to be highly enriched in various pathways responsible for secondary metabolite production. Hence, the combined sequencing and predictive metagenomic approach proved to be a useful indicator for the metabolic potential of sponge holobionts.
ER -
