Eelgrass microbiome and disease dynamics under field and lab heat stress.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The interaction between host microbiomes, pathogen diversity, and environmental stress is a critical but understudied mechanism shaping disease outcomes in marine foundation species. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) suffering from wasting disease, caused by the protist Labyrinthula zosterae, offers a powerful system with which to probe this interaction. We conducted complementary laboratory experimentation and field surveys to examine three main questions: (1) whether thermal stress compromises the eelgrass microbiome and exacerbates disease outcomes; (2) whether different isolates of L. zosterae differ in virulence and their effects on the host microbiome; and (3) whether laboratory-derived microbiome signatures of heat stress correspond with those observed in the field. In th

SUBMITTER: Maher RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12797393 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature