Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Marine Invertebrates

Marine invertebrates harbour complex and dynamic gut microbiomes that underpin host nutrition, development and resilience. These microbial consortia, comprising bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes, form holobionts with their hosts, enabling the breakdown of complex dietary compounds, the production of essential metabolites and defence against pathogens. Within each host species a persistent core microbiome coexists with transient, niche-specific assemblages, whose composition is shaped by phylogeny, diet, environmental conditions and life history stage. Community structure fluctuates seasonally and with algal diet, reflecting shifts in resource availability and local biogeography. Acquisition of microorganisms occurs through a combination of vertical transmission and horizontal recruitment from surrounding seawater or sediment. Advances in high-throughput sequencing, cultivation and metagenomic prediction have revealed functional capabilities such as polysaccharide degradation, short-chain fatty acid synthesis and vitamin biosynthesis. Network analyses highlight cooperative and competitive interactions that confer functional redundancy, illustrating the gut microbiome’s pivotal role in marine ecosystem processes and invertebrate health.

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Gut Microbiome Dynamics in Marine Invertebrates publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in gut microbiome dynamics in marine invertebrates across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Holobiont: the host organism together with its associated microbial community, considered as an ecological unit.

Core microbiome: the set of microbial taxa consistently present across individuals of a host species, indicative of key functions.

Alpha diversity: a measure of species richness and evenness within a single microbial community.

Metagenomics: the direct analysis of genetic material recovered from environmental samples, enabling functional and taxonomic profiling of mixed microbial communities.

References

1. Rhodobacteraceae dominate the core microbiome of the sea star Odontaster validus (Koehler, 1906) in two opposite geographical sectors of the Antarctic Ocean. Frontiers in Microbiology (2023).
2. The Epibiotic Microbiota of Wild Caribbean Sea Urchin Spines Is Species Specific. Microorganisms (2023).
3. Genomic and metabolic insights into the first host-associated isolate of Psychrilyobacter. Microbiology Spectrum (2023).
4. Seasonal and algal diet-driven patterns of the digestive microbiota of the European abalone Haliotis tuberculata, a generalist marine herbivore. Microbiome (2018).