Reciprocal transplantation experiments reveal local adaptation of seaweed-associated bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Seaweed microbiomes are diverse and frequently species-specific. By actively attracting and repelling settling bacteria through exuded metabolites, seaweeds are thought to exert a strong selective pressure on their microbiomes. However, to what degree seaweed-associated bacteria are adapted to their host has received little attention. Here, we retrieve cultivable seaweed bacterial communities from Palmaria palmata (Dulse) and Fucus serratus (Serrated Wrack) and use reciprocal transplant experiments to test whether bacterial isolates have the greatest fitness on their host seaweed species. We used agar derived from host seaweed extracts for bacterial isolation, which was found to be superior to a generic marine agar formulation based on both 16S rRNA gene amplicon alpha- and b

SUBMITTER: Corr S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12645841 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature