Biodegradation mechanism of naphthalene using marine sponge symbiotic bacteria

Generally, all petroleum processing industries produce oil sludge or sludge. Polycy-clic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), one of the components contained in sludge, are hazardous and toxic waste material with toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. The research objective was to understand the biodegradation mechanism of naphthalene by utilizing a marine sponge symbiotic bacterial isolate. Partial bacteria Bacillus Sp strain AB353f (BC), sponge isolate Neopetrosia sp and Acinetobacter Calcoaceticus strain PHCDB14 (AC) isolate sponge Callyspongia (Aerizusa) as biomaterial for PAH degradation. Biodegradation method integrates bacterial suspension with 10,000 ppm naphthalene for 25 days. Every 5 days, the bio-degradation indicators were observed and the products of the destruction of naphthalene components were measured using FTIR and GC-MS. The results showed that BC isolates and AC isolates from sponge symbionts could degrade naphthalene. The biodegradation performance of BC bacteria tended to be more dominant than AC against naphthalene. Based on the functional groups resulting from FTIR, three types of biodegradation products were identified, namely: alcohol, aldehyde and carboxylic acid and one transition product in the form of a cate-chol. Maximum naphthalene bio-degradation occurs at an interaction period of 20 - 25 days.

Comparative Genomics Provides Insight into the Function of Broad-Host Range Sponge Symbionts

Marine sponges often form symbiotic relationships with bacteria that fulfil a specific need within the sponge holobiont, and these symbionts are often conserved within a narrow range of related taxa. To date, there exist only three known bacterial taxa ( Entoporibacteria , SAUL , and Tethybacterales ) that are globally distributed and found in a broad range of sponge hosts, and little is known about the latter two.

A genomic view of the microbiome of coral reef demosponges

Sponges underpin the productivity of coral reefs, yet few of their microbial symbionts have been functionally characterised. Here we present an analysis of ~1200 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) spanning seven sponge species and 25 microbial phyla. Compared to MAGs derived from reef seawater, sponge-associated MAGs were enriched in glycosyl hydrolases targeting components of sponge tissue, coral mucus and macroalgae, revealing a critical role for sponge symbionts in cycling reef organic matter. Further, visualisation of the distribution of these genes amongst symbiont taxa uncovered functional guilds for reef organic matter degradation. Genes for the utilisation of sialic acids and glycosaminoglycans present in sponge tissue were found in specific microbial lineages that also encoded genes for attachment to sponge-derived fibronectins and cadherins, suggesting these lineages can utilise specific structural elements of sponge tissue. Further, genes encoding CRISPR and restriction-modification systems used in defence against mobile genetic elements were enriched in sponge symbionts, along with eukaryote-like gene motifs thought to be involved in maintaining host association. Finally, we provide evidence that many of these sponge-enriched genes are laterally transferred between microbial taxa, suggesting they confer a selective advantage within the sponge niche and therefore play a critical role in host ecology and evolution.

Genomic Insights Into the Lifestyles of Thaumarchaeota Inside Sponges

Sponges are among the oldest metazoans and their success is partly due to their abundant and diverse microbial symbionts. They are one of the few animals that have Thaumarchaeota symbionts. Here we compare genomes of 11 Thaumarchaeota sponge symbionts, including three new genomes, to free-living ones. Like their free-living counterparts, sponge-associated Thaumarchaeota can oxidize ammonia, fix carbon, and produce several vitamins. Adaptions to life inside the sponge host include enrichment in transposases, toxin-antitoxin systems and restriction modifications systems, enrichments previously reported also from bacterial sponge symbionts. Most thaumarchaeal sponge symbionts lost the ability to synthesize rhamnose, which likely alters their cell surface and allows them to evade digestion by the host. All but one archaeal sponge symbiont encoded a high-affinity, branched-chain amino acid transporter system that was absent from the analyzed free-living thaumarchaeota suggesting a mixotrophic lifestyle for the sponge symbionts. Most of the other unique features found in sponge-associated Thaumarchaeota, were limited to only a few specific symbionts. These features included the presence of exopolyphosphatases and a glycine cleavage system found in the novel genomes. Thaumarchaeota have thus likely highly specific interactions with their sponge host, which is supported by the limited number of host sponge species to which each of these symbionts is restricted.

The Bio-Adsorption Pattern Bacteria Symbiont Sponge Marine Against Contaminants Chromium and Manganese In The Waste Modification of Laboratory Scale

The use of sponge symbionts bacteria as marine biomaterials in the heavy metal bio-adsorption method is an effort to save the marine environment from contamination of heavy metal contaminants. The ocean is a giant container, most vulnerable to contamination of pollutants. The target of the research is to determine the potential, capacity and pattern of bio-adsorption of sponge symbionts bacteria against various pollutants so that the toxic properties of heavy metal contaminants can be minimize. The method used is to interact with the bacterial suspension on the test metal concentrations that have been determined. The parameters measured were optical density, pH and concentration of heavy metals after the interaction lasted several days and the calculation of capacity, efficiency and bio-adsorption patterns of bacterial isolates from sponges. Results: The pattern and bio-adsorption power of AC bacteria to Cr and Mn ions were higher than AC bacteria, the adaptability of AC and BS bacteria was stronger in Cr (III) contaminated media compared to Cr (VI) toxic media, causing bacterial cell population BS and AC in Cr (III) and Mn (II) media are more abundant than in Cr (VI) and Mn (VII) media, capacity and bio-adsorption efficiency of BS and AC bacteria agains Cr (III) ˃ Cr (VI) ions and Mn (II) ˃ Mn (VII), It is suspected that there is an influence of reactivity and toxic properties of the metal ion test on the performance of the sponge symbionts in bio-adsorption

Changes in the metabolic potential of the sponge microbiome under ocean acidification

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are causing ocean acidification, which can affect the physiology of marine organisms. Here we assess the possible effects of ocean acidification on the metabolic potential of sponge symbionts, inferred by metagenomic analyses of the microbiomes of two sponge species sampled at a shallow volcanic CO2 seep and a nearby control reef. When comparing microbial functions between the seep and control sites, the microbiome of the sponge Stylissa flabelliformis (which is more abundant at the control site) exhibits at the seep reduced potential for uptake of exogenous carbohydrates and amino acids, and for degradation of host-derived creatine, creatinine and taurine. The microbiome of Coelocarteria singaporensis (which is more abundant at the seep) exhibits reduced potential for carbohydrate import at the seep, but greater capacity for archaeal carbon fixation via the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate pathway, as well as archaeal and bacterial urea production and ammonia assimilation from arginine and creatine catabolism. Together these metabolic features might contribute to enhanced tolerance of the sponge symbionts, and possibly their host, to ocean acidification.

Life at Home and on the Roam: Genomic Adaptions Reflect the Dual Lifestyle of an Intracellular, Facultative Symbiont

ABSTRACT “Candidatus Synechococcus feldmannii” is a facultative intracellular symbiont of the Atlanto-Mediterranean sponge Petrosia ficiformis. Genomic information of sponge-associated cyanobacteria derives thus far from the obligate and extracellular symbiont “Candidatus Synechococcus spongiarum.” Here we utilized a differential methylation-based approach for bacterial DNA enrichment combined with metagenomics to obtain the first draft genomes of “Ca. Synechococcus feldmannii.” By comparative genomics, we revealed that some genomic features (e.g., iron transport mediated by siderophores, eukaryotic-like proteins, and defense mechanisms, like CRISPR-Cas [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated proteins]) are unique to both symbiont types and absent or rare in the genomes of taxonomically related free-living cyanobacteria. These genomic features likely enable life under the conditions found inside the sponge host. Interestingly, there are many genomic features that are shared by “Ca. Synechococcus feldmannii” and free-living cyanobacteria, while they are absent in the obligate symbiont “Ca. Synechococcus spongiarum.” These include genes related to cell surface structures, genetic regulation, and responses to environmental stress, as well as the composition of photosynthetic genes and DNA metabolism. We speculate that the presence of these genes confers on “Ca. Synechococcus feldmannii” its facultative nature (i.e., the ability to respond to a less stable environment when free-living). Our comparative analysis revealed that distinct genomic features depend on the nature of the symbiotic interaction: facultative and intracellular versus obligate and extracellular. IMPORTANCE Given the evolutionary position of sponges as one of the earliest phyla to depart from the metazoan stem lineage, studies on their distinct and exceptionally diverse microbial communities should yield a better understanding of the origin of animal-bacterium interactions. While genomes of several extracellular sponge symbionts have been published, the intracellular symbionts have, so far, been elusive. Here we compare the genomes of two unicellular cyanobacterial sponge symbionts that share an ancestor but followed different evolutionary paths—one became intracellular and the other extracellular. Counterintuitively, the intracellular cyanobacteria are facultative, while the extracellular ones are obligate. By sequencing the genomes of the intracellular cyanobacteria and comparing them to the genomes of the extracellular symbionts and related free-living cyanobacteria, we show how three different cyanobacterial lifestyles are reflected by adaptive genomic features.