Presenter: Alejandro De Santiago (University of Georgia)

Description:
In marine ecosystems, symbiotic relationships between eukaryotes and microbes are common.  However, little is known about the host-microbe interactions of marine nematodes. Marine nematodes are globally dispersed and are one of the most abundant metazoa in marine sediments worldwide. In particular, large, predatory nematodes within the family Oncholaimidae, are able to tolerate extreme environments such as sulfide-rich sediments and high-temperature habitats around hydrothermal vents. Previous studies have revealed that some Oncholaimid species (e.g., Metoncholaimus albidus and Oncholaimus dyvae) harbor microbial organisms (e.g., γ-proteobacteria, ε-proteobacteria, etc.) attached to the cuticle and within the gut. These microbial associates are known to have a symbiotic relationship with other marine organisms; therefore, we hypothesize that symbiotic relationships are also common between nematodes and specific microbial associates. In this study, we elucidate the taxonomic and functional microbiome profiles of 18 different marine nematodes using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Nematodes were identified to the genus level and sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq (250bp PE reads) platforms. Our results demonstrate the need for further -omics studies of nematode microbiomes to better understand host-microbe interactions across diverse marine invertebrate groups.