Bacterial diversity in the jelly of shark Ampullae of Lorenzini: a holobiont perspective.

ABSTRACT: The Ampullae of Lorenzini (AoL) are specialized electrosensory organs found in sharks and other chondrichthyans. They allow the detection of electric fields, temperature changes, and salinity variations. These organs contain a jelly composed of mucopolysaccharides, proteins, and ions, whose microbiota had not been previously characterized. In this study, we investigated and described the presence of bacteria associated with the AoL jelly in seven shark species from the Mexican coast, including three species from the family Sphyrnidae and four from the family Carcharhinidae. Bacteria present in the AoL jelly were cultured on selective media and characterized through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. We identified bacterial species belonging to the families Staphylococcacea

SUBMITTER: Bolano-Martinez N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12782034 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature