Host-microbe associations in Hawaiian marine invertebrates
Many microorganisms form associations with marine eukaryotes (Polz et al. 1999; Webster et al., 2001; Gillan & Dubilier, 2002; Hentschel et al., 2002; Rohwer et al., 2002; Fieseler et al., 2004). Such associations may provide nutrients or dietary co-factors to the host, or perhaps molecules that protect the host from 'infection' by other microbes, or ingestion by other eukaryotes (Holmstrom & Kjelleberg, 1994; Donachie & Zdanowski, 1998; Mearns-Spragg et al., 1998). Although Hawaii's marine eukaryotes have been extensively catalogued, with new species still being discovered, most of the work published on associations between such eukaryotes and microbes has focused on Vibrio fischerii in the Hawaiian Bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes (e.g., Montgomery & McFall-Ngai, 1994).
With thousands of endemic and native marine eukaryotes throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, however, there is significant potential that new microorganisms (Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya) will be discovered (sensu Staley, 1997). It is equally likely that such microorganisms will provide novel secondary metabolites of either clinical or industrial importance. Through this project we aim to describe microbial diversity in selected Hawaiian marine invertebrates, isolate and describe novel microbes, determine what may be the role of commensal or symbiotic microbes in the host, and also screen cultivated microbes for secondary metabolites.
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