Biological and Chemical Diversity of Ascidian-Associated Microorganisms

Chen, Lei; Hu, Jin‐shuang; Xu, Jialei; Shao, Chang‐Lun

doi:10.3390/md16100362

Cited by 47 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 118 publications

(126 reference statements)

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“…Comparatively, ascidians have attracted less attention, despite harboring a highly diverse assemblage of symbionts in their tunics that can fulfill diverse functions (Erwin et al, 2014;Cahill et al, 2016;Dou and Dong, 2019). These symbionts have been investigated mostly from the point of view of their potential role in the production of ascidian secondary metabolites (Schmidt, 2014;Tianero et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2018;Dou and Dong, 2019). However, other roles have also been pointed out, such as photosymbiosis (Donia et al, 2011;López-Legentil et al, 2011;Hirose, 2015), nitrification (Martínez-García et al, 2008;Erwin et al, 2014), or vanadium accumulation (Ueki et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Microbiome of the Worldwide Invasive Ascidian Didemnum vexillum

Casso

Turon

Marco³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

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All multicellular organisms, including ascidians, host diverse microbial communities that are essential for their evolution. The global invader Didemnum vexillum is a colonial species native to Japan with two main genetic clades, A (the only invasive) and B, which provides a unique opportunity to assess if the microbiome remains stable in the colonization process or shifts according to local environment. We have analyzed, using 16S amplicon sequencing, the microbiome of 65 D. vexillum colonies from 13 populations worldwide including the two clades in the native area, plus samples from a congeneric species and seawater from one of the localities. We found 3,525 zeroradius operational taxonomic units (ZOTUs) in D. vexillum, belonging to 36 bacterial and 3 archaeal phyla. The microbiome of this species had a markedly different composition from surrounding seawater and from the congeneric species. For the globally invasive clade A, we found 3,154 ZOTUs, and 8 of them were present in all colonies, constituting a core microbiome with high abundance (69.57% of the total reads) but low diversity (0.25% of the total number of ZOTUs). The variable component was quantitatively much less important but comprised a highly diverse assemblage. In a multiple regression model, global microbiome structure correlated with differences in temperature range across localities and also with geographic distances, pointing to horizontal acquisition of the symbionts. However, the ascidian may have a strong capacity to select and enrich its microbiome, as we found that the most abundant ZOTUs from tunic samples had low abundance in seawater samples from the same locality. The microbiome structure also correlated with the genetic distances between colonies obtained in a previous genomewide analysis, suggesting some potential for vertical transmission. In geographically restricted comparisons, temperature and genetic makeup, but not geography, explained microbiome structure. The combination of a quantitatively dominant core component and a highly diverse variable fraction in the microbiome of D. vexillum can contribute to the success of this global invader in different environments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Microbiome of the Worldwide Invasive Ascidian Didemnum vexillum

Casso

Turon

Marco³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Growing evidence suggests that in many instances, ascidian-associated microbiota are responsible for bioactive natural products (e.g. anticancer, antibacterial or UV-protecting activity (8, 9). We have hypothesized the same to be the case for the biosynthesis of PalA based on its structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural products isolated from ascidians fall into polyketide, terpenoid, peptide, alkaloid and a few other classes of natural products, of which the majority have cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities. The diversity of ascidian-associated microbial producers currently recognized are affiliated with bacterial phyla including Actinobacteria (which dominates the diversity recognized), Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria (both Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and Verrucomicrobia in addition to many fungi (9, 10). A few of these, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncovering the core microbiome and distributions of palmerolide inSynoicum adareanumacross the Anvers Island archipelago, Antarctica

Murray

Avalon

Bishop

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…In general, most actinomycetes do not require seawater or salt supplementation for growth, but they are commonly associated with marine animals [141], where they contribute significantly to the turnover of complex biopolymers and antibiotics [142,143]. The toxic compounds produced by actinomycetes protect the host from predation and infection in shallow-water habitats [24].…”

Section: Actinomycetesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some compounds first isolated from ascidians have been proven to be produced by symbiotic microbes. There is increasing evidence that around 100 (8%) of the known compounds isolated from ascidian symbionts offer a renewable supply, which is important for marine drug candidates (Figure 1f) [22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origins and Bioactivities of Natural Compounds Derived from Marine Ascidians and Their Symbionts

Dou

Dong

2019

Marine Drugs

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Marine ascidians are becoming important drug sources that provide abundant secondary metabolites with novel structures and high bioactivities. As one of the most chemically prolific marine animals, more than 1200 inspirational natural products, such as alkaloids, peptides, and polyketides, with intricate and novel chemical structures have been identified from ascidians. Some of them have been successfully developed as lead compounds or highly efficient drugs. Although numerous compounds that exist in ascidians have been structurally and functionally identified, their origins are not clear. Interestingly, growing evidence has shown that these natural products not only come from ascidians, but they also originate from symbiotic microbes. This review classifies the identified natural products from ascidians and the associated symbionts. Then, we discuss the diversity of ascidian symbiotic microbe communities, which synthesize diverse natural products that are beneficial for the hosts. Identification of the complex interactions between the symbiont and the host is a useful approach to discovering ways that direct the biosynthesis of novel bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical potentials.

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Biological and Chemical Diversity of Ascidian-Associated Microorganisms

Cited by 47 publications

References 118 publications

The Microbiome of the Worldwide Invasive Ascidian Didemnum vexillum

The Microbiome of the Worldwide Invasive Ascidian Didemnum vexillum

Uncovering the core microbiome and distributions of palmerolide inSynoicum adareanumacross the Anvers Island archipelago, Antarctica

Origins and Bioactivities of Natural Compounds Derived from Marine Ascidians and Their Symbionts

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