Abstract
Background: Microbial symbioses in marine invertebrates are commonplace. However, characterizations of invertebrate microbiomes are vastly outnumbered by those of vertebrates. Protists and fungi run the gamut of symbiosis, yet eukaryotic microbiome sequencing is rarely undertaken, with much of the focus on bacteria. To explore the importance of microscopic marine invertebrates as potential symbiont reservoirs, we used a phylogenetic-focused approach to analyze the host-associated eukaryotic microbiomes of 220 animal specimens spanning nine different animal phyla.
Results: Our data expanded the traditional host range of several microbial taxa and identified numerous undescribed lineages. A lack of comparable reference sequences resulted in several cryptic clades within the Apicomplexa and Ciliophora and emphasized the potential for microbial invertebrates to harbor novel protistan and fungal diversity.
Conclusions: Microscopic marine invertebrates, spanning a wide range of animal phyla, host various protist and fungal sequences and may therefore serve as a useful resource in the detection and characterization of undescribed symbioses.
Results: Our data expanded the traditional host range of several microbial taxa and identified numerous undescribed lineages. A lack of comparable reference sequences resulted in several cryptic clades within the Apicomplexa and Ciliophora and emphasized the potential for microbial invertebrates to harbor novel protistan and fungal diversity.
Conclusions: Microscopic marine invertebrates, spanning a wide range of animal phyla, host various protist and fungal sequences and may therefore serve as a useful resource in the detection and characterization of undescribed symbioses.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 161 |
| Journal | Microbiome |
| Volume | 10 |
| Early online date | 30 Sept 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2022 |
Data Availability Statement
All sequence data are deposited in the NCBI Short Read Archive under the BioProject accession number PRJNA746569.Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Hakai Institute and the Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity Institute (CARMABI) and their helpful staff (in particular Rebecca Piercey, Neha Acharya-Patel, Carly Janusson, and Carolyn Prentice from Hakai for assistance with DNA extractions).Funding
The project was funded by the Hakai Institute (Tula Foundation) Project Grant (recipients: PJK & BSL) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canadian Graduate Scholarship (recipient: NATI).
