title: Stable symbionts across the HMA-LMA dichotomy: low seasonal and interannual variation in sponge-associated bacteria from taxonomically diverse hosts.
abstract: Marine sponges host bacterial communities with important ecological and economic roles in nature and society, yet these benefits depend largely on the stability of host-symbiont interactions and their susceptibility to changing environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the temporal stability of complex host-microbe symbioses in a temperate, seasonal environment over three years, targeting sponges across a range of symbiont density (high and low microbial abundance, HMA and LMA) and host taxonomy (six orders). Symbiont profiling by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that bacterial communities in all sponges exhibited a high degree of host specificity, low seasonal dynamics and low interannual variability: results that represent an emerging trend in the field of sponge microbiology and contrast sharply with the seasonal dynamics of free-living bacterioplankton. Further, HMA sponges hosted more diverse, even and similar symbiont communities than LMA sponges and these differences in community structure extended to core members of the microbiome. Together, these findings show clear distinctions in symbiont structure between HMA and LMA sponges while resolving notable similarities in their stability over seasonal and inter-annual scales, thus providing insight into the ecological consequences of the HMA-LMA dichotomy and the temporal stability of complex host-microbe symbioses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Marine Biology and Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA erwinp@uncw.edu.
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Erwin
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEAB-CSIC), Accés Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coma
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: López-Sendino
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEAB-CSIC), Accés Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ribes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011161:Porifera / Q000382:microbiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012621:Seasons; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: 16S rRNA; T-RFLP; microbiome; porifera; symbiosis; temporal variation