The effects of seasonal anoxia on the microbial community structure in demosponges in a marine lake (Lough Hyne, Ireland)

Climate change is expanding marine oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), while anthropogenic nutrient input depletes oxygen concentrations locally. The effects of deoxygenation on animals are generally detrimental; however, some sponges (Porifera) exhibit hypoxic and anoxic tolerance through currently unknown mechanisms. Sponges harbor highly specific microbiomes, which can include microbes with anaerobic capabilities. Sponge-microbe symbioses must also have persisted through multiple anoxic/hypoxic periods throughout Earth history. Since sponges lack key components of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway responsible for hypoxic responses in other animals, it was hypothesized that sponge tolerance to deoxygenation may be facilitated by its microbiome. To test this hypothesis, we determined the microbial composition of sponge species tolerating seasonal anoxia and hypoxia in situ in a semi-enclosed marine lake, using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We discovered a high degree of cryptic diversity among sponge species tolerating seasonal deoxygenation, including at least nine encrusting species of the orders Axinellida and Poecilosclerida. Despite significant changes in microbial community structure in the water, sponge microbiomes were species specific and remarkably stable under varied oxygen conditions, though some symbiont sharing occurred under anoxia. At least three symbiont combinations, all including large populations of Thaumarchaeota, corresponded with deoxygenation tolerance, and some combinations were shared between distantly related hosts. We propose hypothetical host-symbiont interactions following deoxygenation that could confer deoxygenation tolerance. ImportanceThe oceans have an uncertain future due to anthropogenic stressors and an uncertain past that is becoming clearer with advances in biogeochemistry. Both past and future oceans were, or will be, deoxygenated compared to present conditions. Studying how sponges and their associated microbes tolerate deoxygenation provides insights into future marine ecosystems. Moreover, sponges form the earliest branch of the animal evolutionary tree and they likely resemble some of the first animals. We determined the effects of variable environmental oxygen concentrations on the microbial communities of several demosponge species during seasonal anoxia in the field. Our results indicate that anoxic tolerance in some sponges may depend on their symbionts, but anoxic tolerance was not universal in sponges. Therefore, some sponge species could likely outcompete benthic organisms like corals in future, reduced-oxygen ecosystems. Our results support the molecular evidence that sponges and other animals have a Neoproterozoic origin, and that animal evolution was not limited by low-oxygen conditions.