307
terial communities of the macroalgal hosts (Burr and West 1971; Meusnier et al.
2001, 2002; Longford et al. 2007; Lachnit et al. 2011; Bengtsson et al. 2012). Later
molecular approaches removed some of the bias associated with culturing techniques, although they had limitations with respect to their ability to explore functional relationship of associated bacterial communities and their hosts.
Broad access to -omics technology (i.e. genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics) in sequencing is fostering a great deal of interest across many areas of
biology (Turnbaugh et al. 2007; Yang and Li 2012; Kostic et al. 2013; Ursell and
Knight 2013). In particular, these technologies are now making it possible to study
microbial communities in unprecedented detail in order to understand how the
microbiome impacts physiology and propensity to disease in diverse hosts
(Adesemoye et al. 2009; Bakker et al. 2012; Knief et al. 2012). These advancements
are beginning to unravel the complex interactions between the environment, host
genetics and microbiome in diverse systems of the ocean, soil, invertebrate animals
(corals, sponges, insects, etc.), algae, plants and humans (Turnbaugh et al. 2007;
Berg and Smalla 2009; Turner et al. 2013; Krishnan et al. 2014; Yang and Jobin
2014; Ainsworth et al. 2015; Ding et al. 2015). These studies have highlighted the
close association of microorganisms with their host and environment where they
play essential role in host life cycle. In the case of human, a large focus has been the
use of -omics technologies to study the gut microbiome (Cenit et al. 2014; Sun and
Chang 2014; Nakayama et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015). Several studies have been
performed on the healthy and diseased intestines revealing the variation in community composition and their functional capacity correlating with host state (Turnbaugh
et al. 2006; Atarashi et al. 2011; Ridlon et al. 2014). Some of the gut microbial communities degrade dietary fibres and convert them into small chain fatty acid which
are warrant to the well-being of human (Byrne et al. 2015). Those beneficial microbial communities have used to modulate diseased gut and subsequently promoted
health of the gut (Neyrinck et al. 2012). Furthermore, modulation of gut microbiomes may be carried out by using probiotic bacteria, diet supplement, antimicrobial
compound and faecal microbiota transplant (Walsh et al. 2014). Such studies are
providing mechanistic insights into the host-microbiome interaction and are leading
to the development not only of new diagnostic methods but also treatment of a variety of human diseases based on the detection of gut microbiomes (Li et al. 2008;
Rajpal and Brown 2013). These understanding could be useful for promoting growth
of the macroalgal host through modulating some of the beneficial microbial communities as below.
Highly studied -omic approaches have also been used to assess microbial diversity and in a number of marine hosts. For example, there are now several research
articles that describe omic analysis of microbial communities associated with
marine sponges (Gurgui and Piel 2010; Hentschel et al. 2012; Trindade-Silva et al.
2012; O’Connor-Sanchez et al. 2014). These data not only demonstrate that the
microbiome of different sponge species varies in their degree of host specificity at
the phylogenetic level but also these studies have begun to identify some of the
functional genes that are characteristic of sponge communities. For example, metatranscriptomics study of the marine sponge Geodia barretti revealed that bacterial
15 Exploring the Complexity of Macroalgal-Bacterial Interactions…
terial communities of the macroalgal hosts (Burr and West 1971; Meusnier et al.
2001, 2002; Longford et al. 2007; Lachnit et al. 2011; Bengtsson et al. 2012). Later
molecular approaches removed some of the bias associated with culturing techniques, although they had limitations with respect to their ability to explore functional relationship of associated bacterial communities and their hosts.
Broad access to -omics technology (i.e. genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics) in sequencing is fostering a great deal of interest across many areas of
biology (Turnbaugh et al. 2007; Yang and Li 2012; Kostic et al. 2013; Ursell and
Knight 2013). In particular, these technologies are now making it possible to study
microbial communities in unprecedented detail in order to understand how the
microbiome impacts physiology and propensity to disease in diverse hosts
(Adesemoye et al. 2009; Bakker et al. 2012; Knief et al. 2012). These advancements
are beginning to unravel the complex interactions between the environment, host
genetics and microbiome in diverse systems of the ocean, soil, invertebrate animals
(corals, sponges, insects, etc.), algae, plants and humans (Turnbaugh et al. 2007;
Berg and Smalla 2009; Turner et al. 2013; Krishnan et al. 2014; Yang and Jobin
2014; Ainsworth et al. 2015; Ding et al. 2015). These studies have highlighted the
close association of microorganisms with their host and environment where they
play essential role in host life cycle. In the case of human, a large focus has been the
use of -omics technologies to study the gut microbiome (Cenit et al. 2014; Sun and
Chang 2014; Nakayama et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015). Several studies have been
performed on the healthy and diseased intestines revealing the variation in community composition and their functional capacity correlating with host state (Turnbaugh
et al. 2006; Atarashi et al. 2011; Ridlon et al. 2014). Some of the gut microbial communities degrade dietary fibres and convert them into small chain fatty acid which
are warrant to the well-being of human (Byrne et al. 2015). Those beneficial microbial communities have used to modulate diseased gut and subsequently promoted
health of the gut (Neyrinck et al. 2012). Furthermore, modulation of gut microbiomes may be carried out by using probiotic bacteria, diet supplement, antimicrobial
compound and faecal microbiota transplant (Walsh et al. 2014). Such studies are
providing mechanistic insights into the host-microbiome interaction and are leading
to the development not only of new diagnostic methods but also treatment of a variety of human diseases based on the detection of gut microbiomes (Li et al. 2008;
Rajpal and Brown 2013). These understanding could be useful for promoting growth
of the macroalgal host through modulating some of the beneficial microbial communities as below.
Highly studied -omic approaches have also been used to assess microbial diversity and in a number of marine hosts. For example, there are now several research
articles that describe omic analysis of microbial communities associated with
marine sponges (Gurgui and Piel 2010; Hentschel et al. 2012; Trindade-Silva et al.
2012; O’Connor-Sanchez et al. 2014). These data not only demonstrate that the
microbiome of different sponge species varies in their degree of host specificity at
the phylogenetic level but also these studies have begun to identify some of the
functional genes that are characteristic of sponge communities. For example, metatranscriptomics study of the marine sponge Geodia barretti revealed that bacterial
15 Exploring the Complexity of Macroalgal-Bacterial Interactions…