Shielding the Next Generation: Symbiotic Bacteria from a Reproductive Organ Protect Bobtail Squid Eggs from Fungal Fouling.

ABSTRACT: The importance of defensive symbioses, whereby microbes protect hosts through the production of specific compounds, is becoming increasingly evident. Although defining the partners in these associations has become easier, assigning function to these relationships often presents a significant challenge. Here, we describe a functional role for a bacterial consortium in a female reproductive organ in the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes Bacteria from the accessory nidamental gland (ANG) are deposited into the egg jelly coat (JC), where they are hypothesized to play a defensive role during embryogenesis. Eggs treated with an antibiotic cocktail developed a microbial biomass primarily composed of the pathogenic fungus Fusarium keratoplasticum that infiltrated the JC, resu

SUBMITTER: Kerwin AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6819662 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature