Summary
Porifera are sessile organisms, endowed of a simple body structure equipped with a system of external pores connected to an internal channel structure which is covered by specialized cells called choanocytes. All these components represent the efficient water filtering apparatus of sponges, to gain nutrients from the surrounding environment. Sponges are also well known as host of highly diversified symbiont bacterial communities, by establishing relationships as mutualism, nutrition, and also parasitism. Sponges are key species from the ecological point of view, by furnishing ideal habitats for several marine organisms, enhancing nutrient cycling and removing dissolved pollutants from the surrounding water column. The associated microbiota plays an important role in the relationship, by providing nutrients and bioactive metabolites involved in the physiology and defence strategies for the host.

Objectives
Thanks to their strong purifying capacities linked to the high filtration rates, sponges have been recently proposed as ideal candidates for integrated aquaculture in fish farms. Indeed, the potential of sponge cultivation in proximity to fish aquaculture is expected to exert a mitigating action towards aquaculture-related pressures to the natural coastal habitats. DROP is aimed at investigating the taxonomical characterization of the bacterial assemblages associated with sponges from wild populations and in coupling with fish aquaculture. Main objectives are the 1) Taxonomical characterization and functional analysis of bacterial communities associated with sponges from different locations, and 2) Evaluation of differences in the associated bacterial communities between the two conditions. Activities are in progress.

Project Partners
• Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Messina, Italy
• Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC), Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Greece

Other informations
• ASSEMBLE Plus: Final call for funded access to marine infrastructures