Prof. Dr. Nicole Webster (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville)

Invited guest speaker at the Biology Center of the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel

Monday, Septmber 17^th 2018, 16:15

 ZMB
Conference room 4^th floor
Am Botanischen Garten 11

As guest of the CRC 1182

Dr. Nicole Webster

Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia

Talks about:

“Ecogenomic Insights Into Sponge Symbiosis”

Abstract:

Marine sponges often contain highly diverse microbial communities that contribute symbiotic functions essential for the fitness and survival of their hosts. Whilst this makes them attractive models for symbiosis research, the high microbial complexity can also make it difficult to unravel the exact nature of the symbiotic interactions. This presentation will provide an overview of the diversity and specificity of microorganisms in marine sponges, explore different symbiont acquisition strategies, provide evidence for functional equivalence in these complex symbiont communities and use a low diversity sponge model to highlight some of the specific symbiotic functions being uncovered by metaproteogenomic sequencing. This presentation will also provide the first metagenomic insights into viruses within the sponge holobiont, providing evidence for highly species-specific and diverse viral assemblages with distinct functional repertoires that reveal acclimation of the viral community to the specific host environment.