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Specificity of bacterial symbionts in Mediterranean and Great Barrier Reef sponges

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Abstract

Bacteria were isolated from marine sponges from the Mediterranean and the Great Barrier Reef and characterized using numerical taxonomy techniques. A similar sponge-specific bacterial symbiont was found in 9 of 10 sponges examined from both geographic regions. This symbiont occurred in sponges of two classes and seven orders, and it probably has been associated with sponges over a long geological time scale. Another symbiont apparently specific to the spongeVerongia aerophoba was found. This sponge is yellow-orange, similar in color to the bacterial symbiont. These symbionts are two of a large mixed bacterial population present in many sponges.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Clive R. Wilkinson

    Present address: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, 4810, Townsville, M.S.O., Queensland, Australia

  2. Brian Austin

    Present address: Fish Diseases Laboratory, DT4 8UB, Weymouth, Dorset, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Histologie et Biologie Tissulaire, Université Claude Bernard, 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Clive R. Wilkinson & Madeleine Nowak

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, 20742, College Park, Maryland, USA

    Brian Austin & Rita R. Colwell

Authors
  1. Clive R. Wilkinson
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  2. Madeleine Nowak
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  3. Brian Austin
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  4. Rita R. Colwell
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Additional information

This paper constitutes No. V in the series Microbial Associations in Sponges.

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Wilkinson, C.R., Nowak, M., Austin, B. et al. Specificity of bacterial symbionts in Mediterranean and Great Barrier Reef sponges. Microb Ecol 7, 13–21 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02010474

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02010474

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