Metatranscriptomics of the marine sponge Geodia barretti: tackling phylogeny and function of its microbial community

Autor(en)

Regina Radax, Thomas Rattei, Anders Lanzen, Christoph Bayer, Hans Tore Rapp, Tim Urich, Christa Schleper

Abstrakt

Geodia barretti is a marine cold-water sponge harbouring high numbers of microorganisms. Significant rates of nitrification have been observed in this sponge, indicating a substantial contribution to nitrogen turnover in marine environments with high sponge cover. In order to get closer insights into the phylogeny and function of the active microbial community and the interaction with its host G. barretti, a metatranscriptomic approach was employed, using the simultaneous analysis of rRNA and mRNA. Of the 262 298 RNA-tags obtained by pyrosequencing, 92% were assigned to ribosomal RNA (ribo-tags). A total of 109 325 SSU rRNA ribo-tags revealed a detailed picture of the community, dominated by group SAR202 of Chloroflexi, candidate phylum Poribacteria and Acidobacteria, which was different in its composition from that obtained in clone libraries prepared form the same samples. Optimized assembly strategies allowed the reconstruction of full-length rRNA sequences from the short ribo-tags for more detailed phylogenetic studies of the dominant taxa. Cells of several phyla were visualized by FISH analyses for confirmation. Of the remaining 21 325 RNA-tags, 10 023 were assigned to mRNA-tags, based on similarities to genes in the databases. A wide range of putative functional gene transcripts from over 10 different phyla were identified among the bacterial mRNA-tags. The most abundant mRNAs were those encoding key metabolic enzymes of nitrification from ammonia-oxidizing archaea as well as candidate genes involved in related processes. Our analysis demonstrates the potential and limits of using a combined rRNA and mRNA approach to explore the microbial community profile, phylogenetic assignments and metabolic activities of a complex, but little explored microbial community.

Organisation(en)

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Bergen (UiB), Max-Planck-Institut für marine Mikrobiologie

Journal

Environmental Microbiology

Band

14

Seiten

1308-1324

Anzahl der Seiten

17

ISSN

1462-2912

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02714.x

Publikationsdatum

2012

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

106013 Genetik

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 14 – Leben unter Wasser

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5b5e60a3-b004-4c02-a6b6-c16559bf91d5