Marine Microbiomes Towards Standard Methods And Best Practices

A decade of technological advances and research on the human microbiome has re-defined our understanding of biological systems, and now offers diagnostic tools and new approaches to human health. Likewise, marine ecosystems are driven by their microbiome, the ensemble of microscopic organisms that inhabit the water column, sediments and aquatic organisms, and regulate most fluxes of energy and matter. While the human microbiome is composed principally of bacteria, the marine microbiome has a much broader ensemble of microscopic organisms with sizes spanning from viruses of a few tens of nanometres to metazoans of several centimetres. Advances in high throughput imaging and sequencing are emerging in aquatic science, providing important insights into ecosystem structure and functions, and contributing to develop new indicators of ecosystem health and potential hazards to living resources and humans. A number of research exploration and monitoring programs such as the Tara Oceans global expedition and the Marine Biological Observing Network (MBON), and the rising popularity of environmental DNA (eDNA) already led to a wealth of data. However, the wide range of methodologies used in this early exploration phase poses a challenge to integrative studies, prompting community responses such as the Genomic Standards Consortium. This Research Topic will foster cross-community exchange of standards and best practices. It is an opportunity for the different communities working on marine microbiomes to discuss the advantages and the limitations of their sampling and analysis methods. The collection of papers will constitute a knowledge base aimed at (1) addressing the integration of existing observations from heterogenous methods and data types, and (2) working towards cross-communities standards and best practices for future observations and experiments. This Research Topic will publish comprehensive methodological papers that review a sufficiently large body of field or experimental work. Supporting (meta)data, such as environmental context, sampling materials, sample treatments, extraction and imaging yields, must be provided and should preferably be uploaded to an online sample registry such as BioSamples. Protocols and analytical methods should preferably be uploaded to an online repository such as Protocols.io. We welcome contributions from communities working in different environments: · focus on marine systems, but also interested in estuarine and freshwater systems · coastal, open ocean and deep-sea regions · benthic, pelagic and aerosol environments We strongly encourage contributions from communities involved in: · networks of local observatories and long-term monitoring programs · regional & basin-scale surveys, and global expeditions · biodiscovery linked to economic sectors such as pharmaceutics and bioengineering · environmental and health assessments linked to economic sectors such as aquaculture, fisheries, seabed mining, wind-farms, and oil and gas

This book describes the state-of-the-art concerning the ‘marine microbiome’ and its uses in biotechnology. The first part discusses the diversity and ecology of marine microorganisms and viruses, including all three domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. It discusses whether marine microorganisms exist and, if so, why they might be unique. The second part presents selected marine habitats, their inhabitants and how they influence biogeochemical cycles, while the third discusses the utilization of marine microbial resources, including legal aspects, dissemination, and public awareness. The marine microbiome is the total of microorganisms and viruses in the ocean and seas and in any connected environment, including the seafloor and marine animals and plants. The diversity of microbial life remains unquantified and largely unknown, and could represent a hidden treasure for human society. Accordingly, this book is also intended to connect academics and industry, providing essential information for microbiologists from both fields.

Plastic pollution is a growing environmental problem that is attracting increasing interest across society, from academics to the general public. A significant factor in the wide public interest in plastics is its visibility; present throughout urban and rural environments, washing up on beaches and even visible from space. However, 'invisible' microplastics and nanoplastics are also an issue. With growing plastic production and usage, plastic waste within the environment will continue to increase. This increased input along with its persistence leads to accumulation and increasing ecosystem exposure, with as-yet unknown consequences.This book brings together a collection of chapters written by world-leading experts in environmental plastic pollution inputs, fate, effects and solutions. It provides an accessible overview of the current scientific understanding, future implications and key considerations for the management and mitigation of plastic waste within the global ocean.Related Link(s)

Microorganisms are the dominant life form on Earth and inextricably tied to the ecology and evolution of all multicellular life, including marine animals. As the importance of microorganisms to our conception of life gains prominence, animals (and other macroorganisms) are increasingly viewed as “holobionts”, an assemblage of the host plus all its symbiotic microbes. This dissertation examines holobiont biology from the perspective of the microbial communities that live in and around marine hosts. Using both amplicon and metagenomic sequencing, I study the microbiomes of reef-associated seawater and Atlantic killifish to better understand habitat and host effects on microbiome structure. In two Caribbean reef systems, I used examined the biogeography of reef water microbes. I found that the microbiome of reef seawater varies with reef system and individual reefs but that microbiomes within individual reefs were similar to each other and did not vary with benthic composition. The regionalism of reef seawater microbiomes was further assessed upon incorporation of global scale data from five additional studies, which revealed that microbial communities were more distinct with increasing geographic distance. These results contribute to our understanding of the coral holobiont’s microbial environment and can inform monitoring efforts for reef health. Atlantic killifish populations can be categorized as sensitive or tolerant to industrial pollutants based on history of pollutant exposure. Thus, they are an excellent “natural laboratory” for understanding the combined effect of environment and host on microbiome composition. I examined the gut microbiomes of two populations of wild fish as well as captive fish originating from each of these wild populations. I found that living in and adapting to polluted waters can impact microbiome composition and structure, resulting in a microbiome that appears more disordered. Additionally, captivity resulted in a complete turnover of dominant microbial taxa, indicating the environment plays a large role in shaping killifish gut microbiomes. This dissertation demonstrates that diverse systems, from coral reefs to killifish, can benefit from a better understanding of its associated microorganisms. For holobiont studies, these results highlight the importance of considering the context of microbial communities, from environment to host population.

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