Exploring the role of microorganisms in the disease-like syndrome affecting the sponge Ianthella basta.

ABSTRACT: A disease-like syndrome is currently affecting a large percentage of the Ianthella basta populations from the Great Barrier Reef and central Torres Strait. Symptoms of the syndrome include discolored, necrotic spots leading to tissue degradation, exposure of the skeletal fibers, and disruption of the choanocyte chambers. To ascertain the role of microbes in the disease process, a comprehensive comparison of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other eukaryotes was performed in healthy and diseased sponges using multiple techniques. A low diversity of microbes was observed in both healthy and diseased sponge communities, with all sponges dominated by an Alphaproteobacteria, a Gammaproteobacteria, and a group I crenarchaeota. Bacterial cultivation, community analysis by denaturing gradient gel elec

SUBMITTER: Luter HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2935071 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature