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Microbial Diversity of the Freshwater Sponge Spongilla lacustris

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Abstract

To provide insight into the phylogenetic bacterial diversity of the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris, a 16S rRNA gene libraries were constructed from sponge tissues and from lake water. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of >190 freshwater sponge-derived clones resulted in six major restriction patterns, from which 45 clones were chosen for sequencing. The resulting sequences were affiliated with the Alphaproteobacteria (n = 19), the Actinobacteria (n = 15), the Betaproteobacteria (n = 2), and the Chloroflexi (n = 2) lineages. About half of the sequences belonged to previously described actinobacterial (hgc-I) and betaproteobacterial (beta-II) sequence clusters of freshwater bacteria that were also present in the lake water 16S rRNA gene library. At least two novel, deeply rooting alphaproteobacterial lineages were recovered from S. lacustris that showed <89% sequence similarity to known phylogenetic groups. Electron microscopical observations revealed that digested bacterial remnants were contained within food vacuoles of sponge archaeocytes, whereas the extracellular matrix was virtually free of bacteria. This study is the first molecular diversity study of a freshwater sponge and adds to a growing database on the diversity and community composition of sponge-associated microbial consortia.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. A. Kalk (Kigali, Rwanda) for bringing the discovery of an unusually large S. lacustris colony to our attention and gratefully acknowledge Dr. P. Wißmath (Bezirk Oberbayern, Fachberatung für Fischerei, München) for expert sponge collection. This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant HE 3299/1-1) to U.H.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Universität Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, D-97070, Würzburg, Germany

    Christine Gernert & Ute Hentschel

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Celsiusstr. 1, D-28359, Bremen, Germany

    Frank Oliver Glöckner

  3. International University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, D-28759, Bremen, Germany

    Frank Oliver Glöckner

  4. Abteilung für Elektronenmikroskopie, Biozentrum der Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Georg Krohne

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  1. Christine Gernert
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  4. Ute Hentschel
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Correspondence to Ute Hentschel.

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Gernert, C., Glöckner, F.O., Krohne, G. et al. Microbial Diversity of the Freshwater Sponge Spongilla lacustris . Microb Ecol 50, 206–212 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-004-0172-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-004-0172-x

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