My laboratory has a long-term commitment to develop new technologies and procedures towards developing an experimental model for sponge-microbe symbioses. In this context, we have made considerable efforts to increase access and tractability of sponge symbioses. Marine gnotobiotic biosafety S1 animal housing facilities allow experimentation in a germ-free laboratory environment. Experiments are being run (Lara Schmittmann) to determine the ideal antibiotic cocktail composition and concentration to effectively remove bacteria without causing harm to the sponges. We are further making increasingly use of sponge genomic and transcriptomic resources. Our overarching aim is to move sponge symbioses from an exploratory type of research into the arena of experimental models for host-microbe interactions.
Marulanda-Gomez A, Mueller B, Bayer K, Abukhalaf M, Tholey A, Fraune S, Pita L, Hentschel U (2024) Combined cellular and proteomics approach suggest differential processing of native and foreign vibrios in the sponge Halichondria panicea. mBio bioRxiv preprint doi:
Steiner LX, Schmittmann L, Rahn T, Lachnit T, Jahn MT, Hentschel U (2024) Phage-induced disturbance of a marine sponge microbiome. Environmental Microbiome 19, 97.
Marulanda-Gomez AM, Ribes M, Franzenburg, Hentschel U and Pita L (2024) Transcriptomic responses of Mediterranean sponges upon encounter with symbiont microbial consortia. BMC genomics, 25(1), 1-13. DOI
Marulanda-Gomez AM, Bayer K, Pita L, Hentschel U (2023) A novel in-vivo phagocytosis assay to gain cellular insights on sponge-microbe interactions. Front Mar Sci 10. doi:
Schmittmann L, Rahn T, Busch K, Pita L, Hentschel U (2022) Stability of a dominant sponge-symbiont in spite of antibiotic-induced microbiome disturbance. Environm Microbiol First published: 17 October 2022
Schmittmann L, Jahn M, Pita L, Hentschel U (2020) Decoding cellular dialogues between sponges, bacteria and phages. In Cellular Dialogues in the Holobiont (Bosch & Hadfield, eds.) CRC Press, USA. pp. 49-63.
Pita L, Fraune S, Hentschel U (2016) Emerging sponge models of animal-microbe symbioses. Front. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.02102
SFB 1182/2: Origin and Function of Metaorganisms
