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Journal article
Mono‑specific algal diets shape microbial networking in the gut of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla elatensis
Animal Microbiome, Vol.3(1), pp.1-21
2021
PMID: 34782025
Abstract
Background
Algivorous sea urchins can obtain energy from a diet of a single algal species, which may result in consequent changes in their gut microbe assemblies and association networks.
Methods
To ascertain whether such changes are led by specific microbes or limited to a specific region in the gut, we compared the microbial assembly in the three major gut regions of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla elatensis when fed a mono-specific algal diet of either Ulva fasciata or Gracilaria conferta, or an algal-free diet. DNA extracts from 5 to 7 individuals from each diet treatment were used for Illumina MiSeq based 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V3–V4 region). Niche breadth of each microbe in the assembly was calculated for identification of core, generalist, specialist, or unique microbes. Network analyzers were used to measure the connectivity of the entire assembly and of each of the microbes within it and whether it altered with a given diet or gut region. Lastly, the predicted metabolic functions of key microbes in the gut were analyzed to evaluate their potential contribution to decomposition of dietary algal polysaccharides.
Results
Sea urchins fed with U. fasciata grew faster and their gut microbiome network was rich in bacterial associations (edges) and networking clusters. Bacteroidetes was the keystone microbe phylum in the gut, with core, generalist, and specialist representatives. A few microbes of this phylum were central hub nodes that maintained community connectivity, while others were driver microbes that led the rewiring of the assembly network based on diet type through changes in their associations and centrality. Niche breadth agreed with microbes' richness in genes for carbohydrate active enzymes and correlated Bacteroidetes specialists to decomposition of specific polysaccharides in the algal diets.
Conclusions
The dense and well-connected microbial network in the gut of Ulva-fed sea urchins, together with animal's rapid growth, may suggest that this alga was most nutritious among the experimental diets. Our findings expand the knowledge on the gut microbial assembly in T. gratilla elatensis and strengthen the correlation between microbes’ generalism or specialism in terms of occurrence in different niches and their metabolic arsenal which may aid host nutrition.
Details
- Title
- Mono‑specific algal diets shape microbial networking in the gut of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla elatensis
- Authors
- Matan Masasa - Israel Oceanographic and Limnological ResearchAriel Kushmaro - Ben-Gurion University of the NegevEsti Kramarsky-Winter - Ben-Gurion University of the NegevMuki Shpigel - University of HaifaRoy Barkan - Ben-Gurion University of the NegevAlex Golberg - Tel Aviv UniversityAbraham Kribus - Tel Aviv UniversityNadav Shashar - Ben-Gurion University of the NegevLior Guttman (Corresponding Author) - Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research
- Publication details
- Animal Microbiome, Vol.3(1), pp.1-21
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd.
- Date published
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1186/s42523-021-00140-1
- ISSN
- 2524-4671
- PMID
- 34782025
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- The generated datasets in this study are accessible through ENA with the accession number PRJEB42313. Supplementary data and material are provided.
- Grant note
- The current research was supported by The Jewish Charitable Association (JCA) and Israel Ministry of Energy Grant No. 215-11-032.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991213079802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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