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Sponges Of The Caribbean: Linking Sponge Morphology And Associated Bacterial Communities, Ericka Ann Poppell
Sponges Of The Caribbean: Linking Sponge Morphology And Associated Bacterial Communities, Ericka Ann Poppell
Master's Theses
The ecological and evolutionary relationship between sponges and their symbiotic microflora remains poorly understood, which limits our ability to understand broad scale patterns in benthic-pelagic coupling on coral reefs. Previous research classified sponges into two different categories of sponge microbial associations: High Microbial Abundance (HMA) and Low Microbial Abundance (LMA) sponges. Choanocyte chamber morphology and density was characterized in representatives of HMA and LMA sponges using scanning electron microscopy from freeze-fractured tissue. Denaturing Gradient Gel Elextrophoresis was used to examine taxonomic differences among the bacterial communities present in a variety of tropical sponges. The results supported the hypothesis that choanocyte …