![]() ![]() 1), there is typically an assemblage of microorganisms (~10 6 to ~10 9 cells per mL) that, in some species, can equate to ~40% of sponge tissue by volume. These microbes will ultimately enter the mesohyl, where they can proliferate and provide a functional contribution to the sponge holobiont. A fraction of these microbes are able to elude digestion and migrate through the epithelia of the aquiferous canal or the choanocyte chambers. Microorganisms suspended in the seawater flow through the pores and inhalant aquiferous canals to the choanocyte chambers (Fig. Sponges can interact with trillions of microbes each day by filter-feeding alone, and they use an intricate set of morphological, cellular, and molecular dialogs to distinguish between friend, foe, and food. One of the most notable characteristics of marine sponges is how they interact with the microbial world and, particularly, in the symbioses that they form with microorganisms. These sessile invertebrates filter-feed by pumping thousands of liters of seawater per kilogram of sponge per day, making them vital to benthic-pelagic coupling and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in the tropical, temperate, and polar ecosystems that they inhabit. The >9300 species of marine sponges are grouped into four major classes: Calcarea (calcareous sponges 8%), Demospongiae (demosponges 83%), Hexactinellida (glass sponges 7%), and Homoscleromorpha (1%). Marine sponges (phylum Porifera) arose >600 million years ago and are among the oldest extant Metazoan lineages.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |