The deep-sea is the largest, but also the most understudied ecosystem on our planet. At the same time, it is already in need of protection from anthropogenic stressors. We engage in extensive field work to collect specimens from different sponge ground ecosystems in the North Atlantic, but also Southern Oceans. Samples are analyzed for microbial diversity and function by amplicon sequencing, meta-omics, and microscopy. We correlate selected biogeochemical parameters of the collection sites with sponge microbiome composition to infer to what extent the ecosystem influences microbial community composition and vice versa, how sponge symbionts affect the biogeochemical cycling of key nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous in the deep sea (Kathrin Busch). In this Pan-Atlantic effort, our molecular analyses (Dr. Beate Slaby) will reveal microbial adaptation to a lifestyle within sponges and contribute to an improved understanding of ecological processes and pathways in understudied deep-sea sponge habitats.
Dr. Beate Slaby, Dr. Kristina Bayer, Kathrin Busch, Ieva Caraite
Morganti TM, Slaby BM, de Kluijver A, Busch K, Hentschel U, Middelburg J, Grotheer H, Mollenhauer G, Dannheim J, Rapp HT, Purser A, Boetius A (2022) Giant sponge grounds of Central Arctic seamounts are associated with extinct seep life (Langseth Ridge, 87°N, 61°E). Nat Commun 13(1):638. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28129-7
Busch K, Slaby BM, Bach W, Boetius A, Clefsen I, Colaço A, Creemers M, Cristobo J, Federwisch L, Franke A, Gavriilidou A, Hethke A, Kenchington E, Mienis F, Mills S, Riesgo A, Ríos P, Roberts EM, Sipkema D, Pita L, Schupp PJ, Xavier J, Rapp HT & Hentschel U (2022) Biodiversity, environmental drivers, and sustainability of the global deep-sea sponge microbiome. Nat Commun 13, 5160. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32684-4
Maldonado M, López-Acosta M, Busch K, Slaby BM, Bayer K, Beazley L, Hentschel U, Kenchington E and Rapp HT (2021). A Microbial Nitrogen Engine Modulated by Bacteriosyncytia in Hexactinellid Sponges: Ecological Implications for Deep-Sea Communities. Front. Mar. Sci. | DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.638505
Bayer K, Busch K, Kenchington E, Beazley L, Franzenburg S, Michels J, Hentschel U, Slaby BM (2020) Microbial strategies for survival in the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesii. mSystems00473-20. DOI: 10.1101/20t20.05.28.122663
Busch K, Beazley L, Kenchington E, Whoriskey F, Slaby B, Hentschel U (2020) Microbial diversity of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesii in response to anthropogenic activities. Conservation Genetics, 21. pp. 1001-1010. DOI 10.1007/s10592-020-01305-2.
Busch K, Hanz U, Mienis F, Müller B, Franke A, Roberts EM, Rapp HT, Hentschel U (2020) On giant shoulders: How a seamount affects the microbial community composition of seawater and sponges. Biogeosciences: doi.org/10.5194/bg-2020-15
Steinert G, Busch K, Bayer K, Kodami S, Martinez Arbizu P, Kelly M, Mills S, Erpenbeck D, Dohrmann M, Wörheide G, Hentschel U, Peter J. Schupp PJ (2020) Compositional and quantitative insights into bacterial and archaeal communities of South Pacific deep-sea sponges (Demospongiae and Hexactinellida). Front Microbiol 11, 716: doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00716
Rubin-Blum M, Antony CP, Sayavedra L, Birgel D, Peckmann J, Wu YC, Cárdenas P, Martinez-Perez C, Marcon Y, MacDonald I, Sahling H, Hentschel U, Dubilier N (2019) Fueled by methane: Deep-sea sponges from asphalt seeps gain their nutrition from methane-oxidizing symbionts. ISME J. 13(5):1209-1225; doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0346-7.
H2020 SponGES: Deep-sea Sponge Grounds Ecosystems of the North Atlantic: an integrated approach towards their preservation and sustainable exploitation
