Project description
Two may be better than one: the multiple symbionts of a Mediterranean squid
Symbiosis, which means ‘living together’ in Greek, is a common theme in nature describing two organisms in a long-term, sometimes mutually beneficial, relationship. The squid-vibrio symbiosis is widely used to study mutually beneficial associations, also known as mutualisms. For the last several decades, the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) has been studied extensively but has only one symbiont, Vibrio fischeri. Many larger organisms have more than one symbiont. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SquidVibrio project will study the Mediterranean squid Sepiola affinis and its two symbionts, V. fischeri and Vibrio logei. By combining metagenomics, confocal microscopy and mass spectrometry, the project will address unanswered questions on how symbionts interact both with each other and their host.
Objective
Animals often use associations with microbes to preserve their health. These mutualisms are maintained by host-microbe communication and though interactions between bacterial symbionts. The squid-vibrio symbiosis has been used for over 30 years to study beneficial host-microbe associations. However, nearly all studies of the symbiosis have used Euprymna scolopes and its only symbiont, Vibrio fischeri, which precludes examination of how multiple microbial species affect symbiosis. Using the squid Sepiola affinis, and its two symbionts, V. fischeri and Vibrio logei, the SquidVibrio project proposes to examine the effects of multiple microbial species within a mutualism. The project is organized into three objectives. 1) Implement a husbandry facility for S. affinis. 2) Quantify the symbiont populations within the S. affinis light organ over seasons and over maturation. 3) Identify how the symbiont populations alter metabolites within the light organ. First, a husbandry facility will be established at the Banyuls-sur-Mer Oceanographic Observatory that will allow for the maintenance of wild S. affinis and for rearing of the squid. Second, metagenomics will be used to estimate the proportions of V. fischeri and V. logei within the light organ. Subsequently, light organs of field-caught and reared squid will be imaged using confocal microscopy to identify if the Vibrio spp. inhabit mixed or distinct niches. The third objective will use LC-MS and mass spectrometry imaging to identify metabolites that are altered by each Vibrio spp. and how localization patterns of these molecules are affected. These methods will allow for the two-way transfer of knowledge, with the researcher providing squid husbandry techniques and the host institution providing genomics and metabolomics. The SquidVibrio project will establish S. affinis as a model organism in Europe that can provide insights into how symbionts interact both with each other and their host to underly a mutualism.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopy
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological behavioural sciencesethologybiological interactions
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
75006 Paris
France