Turon Marta, Koutsouveli Vasiliki, Conejero María, Taboada Sergi, Verdes Aida, Lorente-Sorolla José María, Díez-Vives Cristina, Riesgo Ana
Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Department of Marine Evolutionary Ecology, Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany.
mBio. 2025 Jun 11;16(6):e0201924. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02019-24. Epub 2025 May 1.
Sponge-associated microbes play fundamental roles in regulating their hosts' physiology, yet their contribution to sexual reproduction has been largely overlooked. Most studies have concentrated on the proportion of the microbiome transmitted from parents to offspring, providing little evidence of the putative microbial role during gametogenesis in sponges. Here, we use 16S rRNA gene analysis to assess whether the microbial composition of five gonochoristic sponge species differs between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals and correlate these changes with their gametogenic stages. In sponges with mature oocytes, reproductive status did not influence either beta or alpha microbial diversity. However, in two of the studied species, and which presented oocytes at the previtellogenic stage, significant microbial composition changes were detected between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. These disparities were primarily driven by differentially abundant taxa affiliated with the archaeal class in both species. We speculate that the previtellogenic stages are more energetically demanding, leading to microbial changes due to the phagocytosis of microbes to meet nutritional demands during this period. Supporting our hypothesis, we observed significant transcriptomic differences in , mainly associated with the immune system, indicating potential changes in the sponge's recognition system. Overall, we provide new insights into the possible roles of sponge microbiomes during reproductive periods, potentially uncovering critical interactions that support reproductive success.
Our research explores the fascinating relationship between sponges and their resident microbes, focusing specifically on how these microbes might influence sponge reproduction. Sponges are marine animals known for their complex and beneficial partnerships with various microbes. While previous studies have mainly looked at how these microbes are passed from parent sponges to their offspring, our study is among the first to examine how microbial communities change during the different stages of sponge reproduction. By analyzing the microbial composition in five sponge species, we discovered that significant changes occur in species with premature oocytes, suggesting that microbes may play a crucial role in providing the necessary nutrients during early egg development. This work not only enhances our understanding of sponge biology but also opens up new avenues for studying how microbes support the reproductive success of their hosts in marine environments.
与海绵相关的微生物在调节宿主生理方面发挥着重要作用，但其对有性生殖的贡献在很大程度上被忽视了。大多数研究集中在从亲代传递给后代的微生物组比例上，几乎没有证据表明微生物在海绵配子发生过程中具有假定的作用。在这里，我们使用16S rRNA基因分析来评估五种雌雄异体海绵物种的微生物组成在生殖个体和非生殖个体之间是否存在差异，并将这些变化与其配子发生阶段相关联。在具有成熟卵母细胞的海绵中，生殖状态既不影响β多样性也不影响α多样性。然而，在两个研究物种中，即处于卵黄发生前期的 和 ，在生殖个体和非生殖个体之间检测到了显著的微生物组成变化。这些差异主要由两个物种中与古菌纲相关的丰度不同的分类群驱动。我们推测卵黄发生前期的能量需求更高，导致在此期间由于微生物的吞噬作用以满足营养需求而引起微生物变化。支持我们的假设的是，我们在 中观察到了显著的转录组差异，主要与免疫系统相关，表明海绵识别系统可能发生了变化。总体而言，我们为海绵微生物群在生殖期的可能作用提供了新的见解，可能揭示支持生殖成功的关键相互作用。
我们的研究探索了海绵与其驻留微生物之间迷人的关系，特别关注这些微生物如何影响海绵繁殖。海绵是海洋动物，以其与各种微生物的复杂且有益的共生关系而闻名。虽然先前的研究主要关注这些微生物如何从亲代海绵传递给后代，但我们的研究是首批研究海绵繁殖不同阶段微生物群落如何变化的研究之一。通过分析五种海绵物种的微生物组成，我们发现处于未成熟卵母细胞阶段的物种发生了显著变化，这表明微生物可能在早期卵子发育过程中提供必要营养方面发挥关键作用。这项工作不仅增进了我们对海绵生物学的理解，还为研究微生物如何支持其宿主在海洋环境中的生殖成功开辟了新途径。
