Isolation of Symbiotic bacteria from Sponge Raspaciona aculeata

Introduction: Microbes of sponges have diverse associations, including truesymbiosis. Sponges, being evolutionarily ancient sessile filter feeders, host diverse andabundant microbial species that play crucial roles in host metabolism. Although themicrobial symbionts of sponges are widely distributed within the organism (up to40% of their volume), the ecological relationships and interactions between bacteriaand their sponge host remain largely unexplored for many species. The present studywas one of the first attempts to isolate symbiotic bacteria from the sponge Raspacionaaculeata.Materials and Methods: After isolation on marine agar medium, the isolates werecharacterized for different colony morphology. The 16S rDNA taxonomic analysis wascarried out on bacteria isolates.Results: Following an incubation period of two weeks at 25°C, only 13 bacterialstrains were isolated with a very low rate of genetic biodiversity. All strains belongedto the Gammaproteobacteria class (Pseudomonadaceae family), except one (isolateAL-18ra) belonging to the Bacilli class (Bacillaceae family).Conclusion: The obtained results are of great importance for advancing theunderstanding of symbiosis phenomena within the sponge species Raspacionaaculeata to study its bioapplication potential.