Host identity and symbiotic association affects the taxonomic and functional diversity of the clownfish-hosting sea anemone microbiome.

Host identity and symbiotic association affects the taxonomic and functional diversity of the clownfish-hosting sea anemone microbiome. Biol Lett. 2020 Feb;16(2):20190738 Authors: Titus BM, Laroche R, Rodríguez E, Wirshing H, Meyer CP Abstract All eukaryotic life engages in symbioses with a diverse community of bacteria that are essential for performing basic life functions. In many cases, eukaryotic organisms form additional symbioses with other macroscopic eukaryotes. The tightly linked physical interactions that characterize many macroscopic symbioses create opportunities for microbial transfer, which likely affects the diversity and function of individual microbiomes, and may ultimately lead to microbiome convergence between distantly related taxa. Here, we sequence the microbiomes of five species of clownfish-hosting sea anemones that co-occur on coral reefs in the Maldives. We test the importance of evolutionary history, clownfish symbiont association, and habitat on the taxonomic and predicted functional diversity of the microbiome, and explore signals of microbiome convergence in anemone taxa that have evolved symbioses with clownfishes independently. Our data indicate that host identity and clownfish association shapes the majority of the taxonomic diversity of the clownfish-hosting sea anemone microbiome, and predicted functional microbial diversity analyses demonstrate a convergence among host anemone microbiomes, which r...
Source: Biology Letters - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Biol Lett Source Type: research