Bacterial Nucleobases Synergistically Induce Larval Settlement and Metamorphosis in the Invasive Mussel Mytilopsis sallei.

ABSTRACT: Marine bacterial biofilms have long been recognized as potential inducers of larval settlement and metamorphosis in marine invertebrates, but few chemical cues from bacteria have been identified. Here, we show that larval settlement and metamorphosis of an invasive fouling mussel, Mytilopsis sallei, could be induced by biofilms of bacteria isolated from its adult shells and other substrates from the natural environment. One of the strains isolated, Vibrio owensii MS-9, showed strong inducing activity which was attributed to the release of a mixture of nucleobases including uracil, thymine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, and guanine into seawater. In particular, the synergistic effect of hypoxanthine and guanine was sufficient for the inducing activity of V. owensii MS-9. The

SUBMITTER: He J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6677853 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature