title: Distribution and Abundance of Archaea in South China Sea Sponge Holoxea sp. and the Presence of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea in Sponge Cells.
abstract: Compared with bacterial symbionts, little is known about archaea in sponges especially about their spatial distribution and abundance. Understanding the distribution and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea will help greatly in elucidating the potential function of symbionts in nitrogen cycling in sponges. In this study, gene libraries of 16S rRNA gene and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes and quantitative real-time PCR were used to study the spatial distribution and abundance of archaea in the South China Sea sponge Holoxea sp. As a result, Holoxea sp. specific AOA, mainly group C1a (marine group I: Crenarchaeota) were identified. The presence of ammonia-oxidizing crenarchaea was observed for the first time within sponge cells. This study suggested a close relationship between sponge host and its archaeal symbionts as well as the archaeal potential contribution to sponge host in the ammonia-oxidizing process of nitrification.
authors.affiliation: Marine Biotechnology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Minqi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Fengli
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Baohua
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li