Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Department of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, São Paulo State University, Araraquara, SP, 14800-060, Brazil.
Commun Biol. 2023 Aug 31;6(1):896. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05230-1.
The dominant benthic primary producers in coral reef ecosystems are complex holobionts with diverse microbiomes and metabolomes. In this study, we characterize the tissue metabolomes and microbiomes of corals, macroalgae, and crustose coralline algae via an intensive, replicated synoptic survey of a single coral reef system (Waimea Bay, O'ahu, Hawaii) and use these results to define associations between microbial taxa and metabolites specific to different hosts. Our results quantify and constrain the degree of host specificity of tissue metabolomes and microbiomes at both phylum and genus level. Both microbiome and metabolomes were distinct between calcifiers (corals and CCA) and erect macroalgae. Moreover, our multi-omics investigations highlight common lipid-based immune response pathways across host organisms. In addition, we observed strong covariation among several specific microbial taxa and metabolite classes, suggesting new metabolic roles of symbiosis to further explore.
珊瑚礁生态系统中的优势底栖初级生产者是具有复杂微生物组和代谢组的完整共生体。在这项研究中，我们通过对单个珊瑚礁系统（瓦胡岛怀梅阿湾）的密集、重复的同步调查，对珊瑚、大型藻类和皮层珊瑚藻的组织代谢组和微生物组进行了表征，并利用这些结果来定义微生物类群与不同宿主特有的代谢物之间的关联。我们的研究结果量化并限制了组织代谢组和微生物组在门和属水平上的宿主特异性程度。钙化生物（珊瑚和 CCA）和直立大型藻类的微生物组和代谢组均存在明显差异。此外，我们的多组学研究强调了跨宿主生物体的共同基于脂质的免疫反应途径。此外，我们观察到几个特定微生物类群和代谢物类之间存在强烈的共变，这表明共生关系具有新的代谢作用有待进一步探索。
