Marine microbial symbiosis heats up: the phylogenetic and functional response of a sponge holobiont to thermal stress.

ABSTRACT: Large-scale mortality of marine invertebrates is a major global concern for ocean ecosystems and many sessile, reef-building animals, such as sponges and corals, are experiencing significant declines through temperature-induced disease and bleaching. The health and survival of marine invertebrates is often dependent on intimate symbiotic associations with complex microbial communities, yet we have a very limited understanding of the detailed biology and ecology of both the host and the symbiont community in response to environmental stressors, such as elevated seawater temperatures. Here, we use the ecologically important sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile as a model to explore the changes in symbiosis during the development of temperature-induced necrosis. Expression profiling of the sponge ho

SUBMITTER: Fan L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3635241 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature