Microbial community changes correlate with impaired host fitness of Aurelia aurita after environmental challenge

Animal Microbiome

Research

Nicole Pinnow¹  Nancy Weiland-Bräuer¹  Cynthia M. Chibani¹  Simon Güllert² 

[1] General Microbiology, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany;General Microbiology, Kiel University, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany;Current address: Sysmex Inostics GmbH, Falkenried 88, 20251, Hamburg, Germany;

关键词: Metaorganism;    Aurelia aurita;    Environment;    Climate change;    Microbiome;    Acclimatization;    Salinity;    Temperature;    Future ocean;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s42523-023-00266-4

 received in 2023-03-30, accepted in 2023-09-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Climate change globally endangers certain marine species, but at the same time, such changes may promote species that can tolerate and adapt to varying environmental conditions. Such acclimatization can be accompanied or possibly even be enabled by a host’s microbiome; however, few studies have so far directly addressed this process. Here we show that acute, individual rises in seawater temperature and salinity to sub-lethal levels diminished host fitness of the benthic Aurelia aurita polyp, demonstrated by up to 34% reduced survival rate, shrinking of the animals, and almost halted asexual reproduction. Changes in the fitness of the polyps to environmental stressors coincided with microbiome changes, mainly within the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota. The absence of bacteria amplified these effects, pointing to the benefit of a balanced microbiota to cope with a changing environment. In a future ocean scenario, mimicked by a combined but milder rise of temperature and salinity, the fitness of polyps was severely less impaired, together with condition-specific changes in the microbiome composition. Our results show that the effects on host fitness correlate with the strength of environmental stress, while salt-conveyed thermotolerance might be involved. Further, a specific, balanced microbiome of A. aurita polyps supports the host’s acclimatization. Microbiomes may provide a means for acclimatization, and microbiome flexibility can be a fundamental strategy for marine animals to adapt to future ocean scenarios and maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd. 2023

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