Poster Presentation Australian Microbial Ecology 2017

Genomic insights and interactions of uncultured proteobacterial symbionts of Scopalina sp. (#140)

Jessica Taylor 1 , Torsten Thomas 1
  1. Centre of Marine Bio-Innovation, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Marine sponges (Porifera) are among the most ancient Metazoa and are known for their close association with microorganisms. Low microbial abundance (LMA) sponges are typically dominated by only a few bacterial phyla, generally members of the Proteobacteria. Due to apparent unculturability of many sponge symbionts, LMA sponges, along with recent advances in metagenomic analysis techniques, presents an ideal opportunity to delve into the microbial dark matter and reveal functions and interactions of these microbial symbionts. In this study we examine the microbial community of the marine sponge Scopalina sp. using shotgun sequencing and automated binning techniques to acquire genomes of its symbionts.