Evolutionary history and association with seaweeds shape the genomes and metabolisms of marine bacteria
We hypothesized that the unique environment of seaweeds in coastal oceans shapes bacterial genomes and promotes a symbiotic lifestyle. We compared the genomes of bacteria isolated from seaweed with bacteria from the same genus found free-living in seawater. For genome features that included the number of genes, the size of the genome, and the GC content, taxonomy was of greater importance than bacterial lifestyle. When we compared metabolic abilities, we again found a strong effect of taxonomy in determining metabolism. Although several metabolic pathways differed between free-living and host-associated bacteria, this was especially prominent for <i>Flavobacteriia</i> in the phylum <i>Bacteroidota</i>. Notably, bacteria living on seaweeds had an increased occurrence of genes for B vitamin synthesis, complex carbohydrate use, and nitrogen uptake, indicating that bacterial genomes reflect both their evolutionary history and the current environment they inhabit.
Authors
- Jessica L. Hart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5542-0860)
- Willem Stock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7648-6404)
- Natalia E. Jiménez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2084-1256)
- Catherine Leblanc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7149-0332)
- Coralie Rousseau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8568-3449)
- Simon M. Dittami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7987-7523)
- Ulisse Cardini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0816-6158)
- Emma Stanfield (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4856-8880)
- Anne Siegel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6542-1568)
- François Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1896-0774)
- Johanna Berlinghof (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1622-1938)
- Marine Vallet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6878-0459)
- Catherine Ann Pfister (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0892-637X)
- Angélique Gobet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4204-8451)
- Pauline Hamon-Giraud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5091-4891)
- Maximiliana Bogan
Institutions
- HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts (BE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Ifremer (FR)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL)
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- Station Biologique de Roscoff (FR)
- Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Systèmes Aléatoires (FR)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Laboratoire de Biologie Intégrative des Modèles Marins (FR)
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (DE)
- Marine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Université de Rennes (FR)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- mSphere
- Published
- 2025-06-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00996-24
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.87
Funders
- University of Chicago
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Universität Bremen
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
- Vlaamse regering
- Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo