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Linking abundance and diversity of sponge-associated microbial communities to metabolic differences in host sponges

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Abstract

Many sponge species contain large and diverse communities of microorganisms. Some of these microbes are suggested to be in a mutualistic interaction with their host sponges, but there is little evidence to support these hypotheses. Stable nitrogen isotope ratios of sponges in the Key Largo, Florida (USA) area grouped sponges into species with relatively low δ15N ratios and species with relatively high δ15N ratios. Using samples collected in June 2002 from Three Sisters Reef and Conch Reef in the Key Largo, Florida area, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis were performed on tissues of the sponges Ircinia felix and Aplysina cauliformis, which are in the low δ15N group, and on tissue of the sponge Niphates erecta, which is in the high δ15N group. Results showed that I. felix and A. cauliformis have large and diverse microbial communities, while N. erecta has a low biomass of one bacterial strain. As the low δ15N ratios indicated a microbial input of nitrogen, these results suggested that I. felix and A. cauliformis were receiving nitrogen from their associated microbial community, while N. erecta was obtaining nitrogen solely from external sources. Sequence analysis of the microbial communities showed a diversity of metabolic capabilities among the microbes of the low δ15N group, which are lacking in the high δ15N group, further supporting metabolic differences between the two groups. This research provides support for hypotheses of mutualisms between sponges and their associated microbial communities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the UNCW-NURC Center for exceptional logistical support that greatly facilitated the research. Financial support was provided by grants from NOAA’s National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to CSM and NL (NA03OAR4300088); the NSF Chemical Oceanography Program to CSM and NL (OCE 0351893 & OCE 0531422); a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Gussenhoven Student Fund in UNC Marine Sciences travel grant to JBW; UNC-Chapel Hill seed grants to CSM and to NL; and SFB567 (TPC3) grant to UH. We are grateful to Christine Gernert for help with sequencing and Susanne Schmitt for interesting discussions (both University of Wuerzburg). Three anonymous referees provided valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was conducted under permits from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and complied with the legal requirements in the United States of America.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC, 28557, USA

    Jeremy B. Weisz & Niels Lindquist

  2. Research Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany

    Ute Hentschel

  3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3300, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3300, USA

    Christopher S. Martens

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, 110 Mills-Godwin Building, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Jeremy B. Weisz

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  1. Jeremy B. Weisz
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  2. Ute Hentschel
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Correspondence to Jeremy B. Weisz.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle.

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Weisz, J.B., Hentschel, U., Lindquist, N. et al. Linking abundance and diversity of sponge-associated microbial communities to metabolic differences in host sponges. Mar Biol 152, 475–483 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0708-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0708-y

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