Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Marine Ecology and Biodiversity, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK.
CNRS, Integrative Biology of Marine Models Laboratory (LBI2M, UMR 8227), Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier, Sorbonne Université, Roscoff, 29680, France.
New Phytol. 2024 Oct;244(2):364-376. doi: 10.1111/nph.20018. Epub 2024 Aug 13.
In the marine environment, seaweeds (i.e. marine macroalgae) provide a wide range of ecological services and economic benefits. Like land plants, seaweeds do not provide these services in isolation, rather they rely on their associated microbial communities, which together with the host form the seaweed holobiont. However, there is a poor understanding of the mechanisms shaping these complex seaweed-microbe interactions, and of the evolutionary processes underlying these interactions. Here, we identify the current research challenges and opportunities in the field of seaweed holobiont biology. We argue that identifying the key microbial partners, knowing how they are recruited, and understanding their specific function and their relevance across all seaweed life history stages are among the knowledge gaps that are particularly important to address, especially in the context of the environmental challenges threatening seaweeds. We further discuss future approaches to study seaweed holobionts, and how we can apply the holobiont concept to natural or engineered seaweed ecosystems.
在海洋环境中，海藻（即海洋大型藻类）提供了广泛的生态服务和经济效益。与陆地植物一样，海藻并非孤立地提供这些服务，而是依赖于与其相关的微生物群落，这些微生物群落与宿主一起构成了海藻整体生物。然而，人们对塑造这些复杂海藻-微生物相互作用的机制以及这些相互作用背后的进化过程了解甚少。在这里，我们确定了海藻整体生物生物学领域当前的研究挑战和机遇。我们认为，确定关键的微生物伙伴，了解它们是如何被招募的，以及理解它们的特定功能及其在海藻整个生命周期阶段的相关性，是特别需要解决的知识空白，特别是在威胁海藻的环境挑战背景下。我们进一步讨论了研究海藻整体生物的未来方法，以及如何将整体生物概念应用于自然或工程海藻生态系统。
