Dataset Information

Phylogenetically diverse ureC genes and their expression suggest the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria.

ABSTRACT: Urea is one of the dominant organic nitrogenous compounds in the oligotrophic oceans. Compared to the knowledge of nitrogen transformation of nitrogen fixation, ammonia oxidization, nitrate and nitrite reduction mediated by sponge-associated microbes, our knowledge of urea utilization in sponges and the phylogenetic diversity of sponge-associated microbes with urea utilization potential is very limited. In this study, Marinobacter litoralis isolated from the marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria and the slurry of X. testudinaria were found to have urease activity. Subsequently, phylogenetically diverse bacterial ureC genes were detected in the total genomic DNA and RNA of sponge X. testudinaria, i.e., 19 operative taxonomic units (OTUs) in genomic DNA library and 8 OTUs in cDNA library at 90% stringency. Particularly, 6 OTUs were common to both the genomic DNA library and the cDNA library, which suggested that some ureC genes were expressed in this sponge. BLAST and phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the ureC sequences were similar with the urease alpha subunit of members from Proteobacteria, which were the predominant component in sponge X. testudinaria, and the remaining ureC sequences were related to those from Magnetococcus, Cyanobacteria, and Actinobacteria. This study is the first assessment of the role of sponge bacterial symbionts in the regenerated utilization of urea by the detection of transcriptional activity of ureC gene, as well as the phylogenetic diversity of ureC gene of sponge bacterial symbionts. The results suggested the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge X. testudinaria, extending our understanding of nitrogen cycling mediated by sponge-associated microbiota.

SUBMITTER: Su J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3669342 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phylogenetically diverse ureC genes and their expression suggest the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria.

Su Jing J Jin Liling L Jiang Qun Q Sun Wei W Zhang Fengli F Li Zhiyong Z

PloS one 20130531 5

Urea is one of the dominant organic nitrogenous compounds in the oligotrophic oceans. Compared to the knowledge of nitrogen transformation of nitrogen fixation, ammonia oxidization, nitrate and nitrite reduction mediated by sponge-associated microbes, our knowledge of urea utilization in sponges and the phylogenetic diversity of sponge-associated microbes with urea utilization potential is very limited. In this study, Marinobacter litoralis isolated from the marine sponge Xestospongia testudinar ...[more]

PMID: 23741404

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Project description:Compared to our understanding of the taxonomic composition of the symbiotic microbes in marine sponges, the functional diversity of these symbionts is largely unknown. Furthermore, the application of genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic techniques to functional questions on sponge host-symbiont interactions is in its infancy. In this study, we generated a transcriptome for the host and a metatranscriptome of its microbial symbionts for the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta, from the Caribbean. In combination with a gene-specific approach, our goals were to (1) characterize genetic evidence for nitrogen cycling in X. muta, an important limiting nutrient on coral reefs (2) identify which prokaryotic symbiont lineages are metabolically active and, (3) characterize the metabolic potential of the prokaryotic community. Xestospongia muta expresses genes from multiple nitrogen transformation pathways that when combined with the abundance of this sponge, and previous data on dissolved inorganic nitrogen fluxes, shows that this sponge is an important contributor to nitrogen cycling biogeochemistry on coral reefs. Additionally, we observed significant differences in gene expression of the archaeal amoA gene, which is involved in ammonia oxidation, between coral reef locations consistent with differences in the fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen previously reported. In regards to symbiont metabolic potential, the genes in the biosynthetic pathways of several amino acids were present in the prokaryotic metatranscriptome dataset but in the host-derived transcripts only the catabolic reactions for these amino acids were present. A similar pattern was observed for the B vitamins (riboflavin, biotin, thiamin, cobalamin). These results expand our understanding of biogeochemical cycling in sponges, and the metabolic interchange highlighted here advances the field of symbiont physiology by elucidating specific metabolic pathways where there is high potential for host-prokaryote interactions.

Dataset Information

Phylogenetically diverse ureC genes and their expression suggest the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria.

Publications

Phylogenetically diverse ureC genes and their expression suggest the urea utilization by bacterial symbionts in marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria.

Similar Datasets

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