The Microbial Community of Tetrodotoxin-Bearing and Non-Tetrodotoxin-Bearing Ribbon Worms (Nemertea) from the Sea of Japan

A potent marine toxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX), found in a great variety of marine and some terrestrial species, leaves intriguing questions about its origin and distribution in marine ecosystems. TTX-producing bacteria were found in the cultivable microflora of many TTX-bearing hosts, thereby providing...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine drugs 2020-03, Vol.18 (3), p.177
Main Authors: Melnikova, Daria I, Magarlamov, Timur Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic Organisms - microbiology
Bacteria
Bearing
Biosynthesis
DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification
Ecosystems
Harbors
Invertebrates - microbiology
Marine ecosystems
Metabolism
Metagenomics
Microbiomes
microbiota
Microbiota - physiology
Microflora
Microorganisms
Molecular weight
Nemertea
Oceans and Seas
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
rRNA 16S
Species
Statistical analysis
Statistical methods
Taxonomy
Terrestrial environments
Tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin - metabolism
Toxicity
Toxins
ttx
ttx-bearing animals
ttx-producing bacteria
Worms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A potent marine toxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX), found in a great variety of marine and some terrestrial species, leaves intriguing questions about its origin and distribution in marine ecosystems. TTX-producing bacteria were found in the cultivable microflora of many TTX-bearing hosts, thereby providing strong support for the hypothesis that the toxin is of bacterial origin in these species. However, metagenomic studies of TTX-bearing animals addressing the whole microbial composition and estimating the contribution of TTX-producing bacteria to the overall toxicity of the host were not conducted. The present study is the first to characterize and compare the 16S rRNA gene data obtained from four TTX-bearing and four non-TTX-bearing species of marine ribbon worms. The statistical analysis showed that different nemertean species harbor distinct bacterial communities, while members of the same species mostly share more similar microbiomes. The bacterial species historically associated with TTX production were found in all studied samples but predominated in TTX-bearing nemertean species. This suggests that deeper knowledge of the microbiome of TTX-bearing animals is a key to understanding the origin of TTX in marine ecosystems.
ISSN:1660-3397
1660-3397
DOI:10.3390/md18030177