Diversity of symbiotic archaeal communities among various sponges

Abstract

Molecular ecological studies have shown that Archaea are predominant microorganisms in a variety of environments including soils, fresh water, seawater and deep-sea sediments, inhabiting moderate to extreme and free-living to symbiotic. A molecular analysis of archaeal communities in sponges collected at the coastal area of Cheju Island, Korea was conducted by using a terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis on 16S rDNA in conjuction with sequencing results of rDNA clones. The results from T-RFLP and clone analysis showed that a single T-RF peak embraced several archaeal clones with different RFLP patterns and sequences. In the unidentified sponge sample (01CJ20), one major T-RF peak corresponded to a single RFLP type (40 clones), which showed possibility of a specific relationship between sponge and its symbiotic archaeal component.