Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Diversity, Structure And Convergent Evolution Of The Global Sponge Microbiome, Torsten Thomas, Lucas Moitinho-Silva, Miguel Lurgi, Johannes R. Bjork, Cole Easson, Carmen Astudillo-Garcia, Julie B. Olson, Patrick M. Erwin, Susanna Lopez-Legentil, Heidi Luter, Andia Chaves Fonnegra, Rodrigo Costa, Peter J. Schupp, Laura Steindler, Dirk Erpenbeck, Jack Gilbert, Rob Knight, Gail Ackermann, Jose V. Lopez, Michael W. Taylor, Robert W. Thacker, Jose M. Montoya, Ute Hentschel, Nicole S. Webster

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are early-diverging metazoa renowned for establishing complex microbial symbioses. Here we present a global Porifera microbiome survey, set out to establish the ecological and evolutionary drivers of these host–microbe interactions.We show that sponges are a reservoir of exceptional microbial diversity and major contributors to the total microbial diversity of the world’s oceans. Little commonality in species composition or structure is evident across the phylum, although symbiont communities are characterized by specialists and generalists rather than opportunists. Core sponge microbiomes are stable and characterized by generalist symbionts exhibiting amensal and/or commensal interactions. Symbionts that are phylogenetically unique to …