Major ocean currents may shape the microbiome of the topshell Phorcus sauciatus in the NE Atlantic Ocean

• Main Author: Sousa, Ricardo
• Publication Date: 2021
• Other Authors: Vasconcelos, Joana, Vera-Escalona, Iván, Delgado, João, Freitas, Mafalda, González, José A., Riera, Rodrigo
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/4338
• topic: Phorcus sauciatus; Microbiome; Ocean currents; NE Atlantic Ocean; .; Faculdade de Ciências da Vida

Studies on microbial communities are pivotal to understand the role and the evolutionary paths of the host and their associated microorganisms in the ecosystems. Meta-genomics techniques have proven to be one of the most efective tools in the identifcation of endosymbiotic communities of host species. The microbiome of the highly exploited topshell Phorcus sauciatus was characterized in the Northeastern Atlantic (Portugal, Madeira, Selvagens, Canaries and Azores). Alpha diversity analysis based on observed OTUs showed signifcant diferences among regions. The Principal Coordinates Analysis of beta-diversity based on presence/absence showed three well diferentiated groups, one from Azores, a second from Madeira and the third one for mainland Portugal, Selvagens and the Canaries. The microbiome results may be mainly explained by large-scale oceanographic processes of the study region, i.e., the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, and specifcally by the Canary Current. Our results suggest the feasibility of microbiome as a model study to unravel biogeographic and evolutionary processes in marine species with high dispersive potential.