Intraspecific Variation in Microbial Symbiont Communities of the Sun Sponge, Hymeniacidon heliophila, from Intertidal and Subtidal Habitats.

ABSTRACT: Sponges host diverse and complex communities of microbial symbionts that display a high degree of host specificity. The microbiomes of conspecific sponges are relatively constant, even across distant locations, yet few studies have directly examined the influence of abiotic factors on intraspecific variation in sponge microbial community structure. The contrast between intertidal and subtidal environments is an ideal system to assess the effect of environmental variation on sponge-microbe symbioses, producing two drastically different environments on a small spatial scale. Here, we characterized the microbial communities of individual intertidal and subtidal Hymeniacidon heliophila sponges, ambient seawater, and sediment from a North Carolina oyster reef habitat by partial (Illumina sequen

SUBMITTER: Weigel BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4711132 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature