title: Culturable bacterial communities associated to Brazilian Oscarella species (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha) and their antagonistic interactions.
abstract: Sponges offer an excellent model to investigate invertebrate-microorganism interactions. Furthermore, bacteria associated with marine sponges represent a rich source of bioactive metabolites. The aim of this study was to characterize the bacteria inhabiting a genus of sponges, Oscarella, and their potentiality for antimicrobial production. Bacterial isolates were recovered from different Oscarella specimens, among which 337 were phylogenetically identified. The culturable community was dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, and Vibrio was the most frequently isolated genus, followed by Shewanella. When tested for antimicrobial production, bacteria of the 12 genera isolated were capable of producing antimicrobial substances. The majority of strains were involved in antagonistic interactions and inhibitory activities were also observed against bacteria of medical importance. It was more pronounced in some isolated genera (Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Photobacterium, Shewanella and Vibrio). These findings suggest that chemical antagonism could play a significant role in shaping bacterial communities within Oscarella, a genus classified as low-microbial abundance sponge. Moreover, the identified strains may contribute to the search for new sources of antimicrobial substances, an important strategy for developing therapies to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. This study was the first to investigate the diversity and antagonistic activity of bacteria isolated from Oscarella spp. It highlights the biotechnological potential of sponge-associated bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia Molecular e Marinha, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil. marinella@micro.ufrj.br.|Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus du Solbosch, Av. F. D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. marinella@micro.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Marinella Silva
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Laport
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus du Solbosch, Av. F. D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauwens
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bacteriologia Molecular e Marinha, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Av Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Nunes
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus du Solbosch, Av. F. D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.|Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier, 29, 1000, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Willenz
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus du Solbosch, Av. F. D. Roosevelt, 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Porifera, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Quinta da Boa Vista, Rio de Janeiro, 20940-040, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muricy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D000898:Antibiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D001938:Brazil; D000068536:Bacillota / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D011161:Porifera / Q000382:microbiology*; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D020592:Shewanella / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Antimicrobials; Biotechnology; Culture-dependent approach; Low-microbial abundance sponge; Sponge-associated bacteria