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Wörheide G, Francis WR, Deister F, Krebs S, Erpenbeck D, Vargas S. The genomes of the aquarium sponges Tethya wilhelma and Tethya minuta (Porifera: Demospongiae). F1000Res 2024; 13:679. [PMID: 39193510 PMCID: PMC11347921 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.150836.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Sponges (Phylum Porifera) are aquatic sessile metazoans found worldwide in marine and freshwater environments. They are significant in the animal tree of life as one of the earliest-branching metazoan lineages and as filter feeders play crucial ecological roles, particularly in coral reefs, but are susceptible to the effects of climate change. In the face of the current biodiversity crisis, genomic data is crucial for species conservation efforts and predicting their evolutionary potential in response to environmental changes. However, there is a limited availability of culturable sponge species with annotated high-quality genomes to further comprehensive insights into animal evolution, function, and their response to the ongoing global change. Despite the publication of a few high-quality annotated sponge genomes, there remains a gap in resources for culturable sponge species. To address this gap, we provide high quality draft genomes of the two congeneric aquarium species Tethya wilhelma and Tethya minuta, small ball-shaped demosponges that are easily maintained long-term in ex situ culture. As such, they offer promising opportunities as laboratory models to contribute to advancing our understanding of sponge biology and provide valuable resources for studying animal evolution, function, and responses to environmental challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert Wörheide
- Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Munich, Bavaria, 80333, Germany
- GeoBio-Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
| | - Warren R. Francis
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
| | - Fabian Deister
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
| | - Stefan Krebs
- Laboratory for Functional Genome Analysis (LAFUGA), Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Dirk Erpenbeck
- GeoBio-Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
| | - Sergio Vargas
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, Paleontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany
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Ehrlich H, Voronkina A, Tabachniсk K, Kubiak A, Ereskovsky A, Jesionowski T. Silactins and Structural Diversity of Biosilica in Sponges. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:393. [PMID: 39056834 PMCID: PMC11274843 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9070393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2024] [Revised: 06/23/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Sponges (phylum Porifera) were among the first metazoans on Earth, and represent a unique global source of highly structured and diverse biosilica that has been formed and tested over more than 800 million years of evolution. Poriferans are recognized as a unique archive of siliceous multiscaled skeletal constructs with superficial micro-ornamentation patterned by biopolymers. In the present study, spicules and skeletal frameworks of selected representatives of sponges in such classes as Demospongiae, Homoscleromorpha, and Hexactinellida were desilicified using 10% HF with the aim of isolating axial filaments, which resemble the shape and size of the original structures. These filaments were unambiguously identified in all specimens under study as F-actin, using the highly specific indicators iFluor™ 594-Phalloidin, iFluor™ 488-Phalloidin, and iFluor™ 350-Phalloidin. The identification of this kind of F-actins, termed for the first time as silactins, as specific pattern drivers in skeletal constructs of sponges opens the way to the fundamental understanding of their skeletogenesis. Examples illustrating the biomimetic potential of sophisticated poriferan biosilica patterned by silactins are presented and discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hermann Ehrlich
- Center of Advanced Technology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 10, 61-614 Poznan, Poland;
- Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
| | - Alona Voronkina
- Pharmacy Department, National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya, Pirogov Street 56, 21018 Vinnytsia, Ukraine;
| | - Konstantin Tabachniсk
- International Institute of Biomineralogy GmbH, Am St.-Niclas Schacht 13, 09599 Freiberg, Germany
| | - Anita Kubiak
- Center of Advanced Technology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 10, 61-614 Poznan, Poland;
- Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 8, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Alexander Ereskovsky
- IMBE, CNRS, IRD, Aix Marseille University, Station Marine d’Endoume, Rue de la Batterie des Lions, 13007 Marseille, France;
| | - Teofil Jesionowski
- Faculty of Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
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Shimizu K, Nishi M, Sakate Y, Kawanami H, Bito T, Arima J, Leria L, Maldonado M. Silica-associated proteins from hexactinellid sponges support an alternative evolutionary scenario for biomineralization in Porifera. Nat Commun 2024; 15:181. [PMID: 38185711 PMCID: PMC10772126 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44226-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Metazoans use silicon traces but rarely develop extensive silica skeletons, except for the early-diverging lineage of sponges. The mechanisms underlying metazoan silicification remain incompletely understood, despite significant biotechnological and evolutionary implications. Here, the characterization of two proteins identified from hexactinellid sponge silica, hexaxilin and perisilin, supports that the three classes of siliceous sponges (Hexactinellida, Demospongiae, and Homoscleromorpha) use independent protein machineries to build their skeletons, which become non-homologous structures. Hexaxilin forms the axial filament to intracellularly pattern the main symmetry of the skeletal parts, while perisilin appears to operate in their thickening, guiding extracellular deposition of peripheral silica, as does glassin, a previously characterized hexactinellid silicifying protein. Distant hexaxilin homologs occur in some bilaterians with siliceous parts, suggesting putative conserved silicifying activity along metazoan evolution. The findings also support that ancestral Porifera were non-skeletonized, acquiring silica skeletons only after diverging into major classes, what reconciles molecular-clock dating and the fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katsuhiko Shimizu
- Platform for Community-based Research and Education, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8550, Japan.
| | - Michika Nishi
- Division of Agricultural Science, Graduate studies of Sustainability Science, Tottori University Graduate School, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Yuto Sakate
- Division of Agricultural Science, Graduate studies of Sustainability Science, Tottori University Graduate School, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Haruka Kawanami
- Department of Life Environmental Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Tomohiro Bito
- Department of Life Environmental Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Jiro Arima
- Department of Life Environmental Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Minami, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Laia Leria
- Sponge Ecobiology and Biotechnology Group, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB, CSIC), Blanes, 17300, Spain
| | - Manuel Maldonado
- Sponge Ecobiology and Biotechnology Group, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB, CSIC), Blanes, 17300, Spain.
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Steffen K, Proux-Wéra E, Soler L, Churcher A, Sundh J, Cárdenas P. Whole genome sequence of the deep-sea sponge Geodia barretti (Metazoa, Porifera, Demospongiae). G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2023; 13:jkad192. [PMID: 37619978 PMCID: PMC10542158 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Sponges are among the earliest branching extant animals. As such, genetic data from this group are valuable for understanding the evolution of various traits and processes in other animals. However, like many marine organisms, they are notoriously difficult to sequence, and hence, genomic data are scarce. Here, we present the draft genome assembly for the North Atlantic deep-sea high microbial abundance species Geodia barretti Bowerbank 1858, from a single individual collected on the West Coast of Sweden. The nuclear genome assembly has 4,535 scaffolds, an N50 of 48,447 bp and a total length of 144 Mb; the mitochondrial genome is 17,996 bp long. BUSCO completeness was 71.5%. The genome was annotated using a combination of ab initio and evidence-based methods finding 31,884 protein-coding genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Steffen
- Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 24, Sweden
| | - Estelle Proux-Wéra
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, Solna SE-17121, Sweden
| | - Lucile Soler
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS), Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala 752 37, Sweden
| | - Allison Churcher
- Department of Molecular Biology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden
| | - John Sundh
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, Solna SE-17121, Sweden
| | - Paco Cárdenas
- Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala 751 24, Sweden
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