Bacteroidetes bacteria, important players in the marine sponge larval development process

Mingyu Li; Kai Wang; Chenzheng Jia; Tan Liu; Shuo Yang; Huilong Ou; Jing Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102662

Bacteroidetes bacteria, important players in the marine sponge larval development process

iScience. 2021 May 29;24(6):102662. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102662. eCollection 2021 Jun 25.

Authors

Mingyu Li¹, Kai Wang¹, Chenzheng Jia¹, Tan Liu¹, Shuo Yang¹, Huilong Ou¹, Jing Zhao^{2

1}

Affiliations

¹ College of Ocean and Earth Sciences of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
² Xiamen City Key Laboratory of Urban Sea Ecological Conservation and Restoration (USER), Xiamen University, Xiangan District, Zhoulongquan Building, Xiamen 361005, China.

Abstract

Bacteroidetes bacteria are frequently found in association with sponges, but their roles in host development are poorly understood. In this study, thirteen bacterial species (12 genera) isolated from the sponge Tedania sp. revealed a common ability to significantly promote sponge larval settlement at rates 30.00-53.33% higher than controls (p < 0.05). Three effective strategies were adapted: (i) two strains formed biofilms enhancing the settlement rate to 56.67-63.33% within three days. (ii) Five strains secreted hydrosoluble molecules improving larval settlement, reaching 59.17%. (iii) Six species produced extracellular vesicles (EVs) that significantly improved settlement by up to 86.67% (p < 0.05). The EV fluorescence demonstrated that they migrated inside the sponge larvae from the planktonic to metamorphosis stage. Generally, marine sponges specifically enrich Bacteroidetes bacteria because of the important player in host development, establishing the basis for reciprocal adaptive co-evolution between the microbial community and animals, even including higher organisms.

Keywords: Ecology; Marine organism; Microbiology.