Reef-Building Corals

• Coral skeleton is a very efficient light-gathering

structure.

• Phototrophic symbionts include cyanobacteria,

rhodophytes, chlorophytes, dinoflagellates, and
diatoms. (Table 23.4)
Table 23.4
Reef-Building Corals
• Most ecologically significant between stony coral and the
dinoflagellate Symbiodinium (Figure 23.33)
• The coral harbors the dinoflagellates inside its cells in
special vesicles called symbiosomes that are analogous to
the nodule structures found in legumes.
• The coral improves the light-gathering capacity of the
dinoflagellates, while the photosynthesis of the
dinoflagellates provides organic nutrients to the coral.
• The corals reproduce sexually by releasing gametes into the
seawater.
• Algal symbionts are typically found in the egg (vertical
transmission).
• The coral regulates the cell division of the dinoflagellate, with the
newly formed dinoflagellate cells forming new symbiosomes
within the coral.
• Developing coral can also ingest dinoflagellates.
Figure 23.33
Reef-Building Corals

• Coral bleaching
• Loss of color caused by lysis of symbiont

• High temperature and high light impair the photosynthetic

apparatus of dinoflagellate. (Figure 23.34)

• Nearly half of the Great Barrier Reef has experienced

bleaching in the past few years.
Figure 23.34
Reef-Building Corals

• Coral bleaching
• Different species of Symbiodinium tolerate different
temperatures. (Figure23.35)
Figure 23.35
Termites
• Termites decompose cellulose and hemicellulose.
• Termites classified as higher or lower based
on phylogeny
• This classification correlates with differences in gut
complexity and gut symbionts
• Termite gut consists of foregut, midgut, and
hindgut. (Figure 23.27)
Termites

• Posterior alimentary tract of higher termites

(Termitidae)
• diverse community of anaerobes, including cellulolytic
anaerobes, capable of digesting cellulose
• Lower termites gut communities:
• anaerobic bacteria and cellulolytic protists (it is the
protists, not the bacteria driving the cellulose digestion
in the lower termites).
• Termites contain both acetate producing microbes
as well as nitrogen fixing microbes.
Alternative Mammalian Gut Systems

• Herbivores – animals that consume plants

• Carnivores – animals that consume meat

• Omnivores – animals that consume both

• Phylogenetics suggests that different lineages

evolved an herbivorous lifestyle. (Figure 23.36)
Figure 23.36
Alternative Mammalian Gut Systems

• Microbial associations with certain animals led to an

ability to catabolize plant fibers.
• plant fibers composed of insoluble polysaccharides
• cellulose most abundant component
• Two digestive plans have evolved in herbivorous animals.
(Figure 23.37)
• foregut fermentation: fermentation chamber precedes the
small intestine
• hindgut fermentation: uses cecum and/or large intestine
Figure 23.37
The Rumen and Ruminant Animals

• Microbes form intimate symbiotic relationships with

higher organisms.
• Ruminants
• herbivorous mammals (e.g., cows, sheep, goats)
• possess a special digestive organ (the rumen)
• Cellulose and other plant polysaccharides are digested with
the help of microbes. (Figure 23.38)
• rumen well studied because of implanted sampling port
Figure 23.38
The Rumen and Ruminant Animals

• The rumen contains 1010 to 1011 microbes per gram

of rumen constituents.
• Fermentation in the rumen is mediated by
cellulolytic microbes that hydrolyze cellulose to free
glucose that is then fermented, producing volatile
fatty acids (e.g., acetic, propionic, butyric) and CH4
and CO2. (Figure 23.39)
• Fatty acids pass through the rumen wall into the
bloodstream and are utilized by the animal as its
main energy source.
Figure 23.39
The Rumen and Ruminant Animals

• Rumen microbes also synthesize amino acids and

vitamins for their animal host.

• Rumen microbes themselves can serve as a source

of protein to their host when they are directly
digested.

• Anaerobic bacteria dominate in the rumen.

• Rumen contains 300 to 400 bacterial “species.”

The Rumen and Ruminant Animals

• Abrupt changes in an animal's diet can result in changes in

the rumen flora
• Rumen acidification (acidosis) is one consequence of such a
change. This can lead to inflammation of the rumen and
potential acidification of the blood (which is potentially lethal
for the cow).
• Anaerobic protists and fungi are also abundant in the rumen.
• Many of these eukaryotes perform metabolic reactions
similar to those of their prokaryotic counterparts.
• Rumen microorganisms often detoxify plant metabolites,
which enables cattle to eat a more varied diet.
(Figure 23.41)
Figure 23.41
Question 1

In a mutualistic relationship,

a. microbes benefit at the expense of the host.

b. microbes cause disease in the host.

c. microbes have no discernible effect on the host.

d. both the microbes and the host benefit.

Question 2

A lichen is a symbiotic relationship between

a. a plant and a nitrogen-fixing bacterium.

b. an alga and a cyanobacterium.

c. a fungus and an alga.

d. a plant and a fungus.

Question 3

The Hawaiian bobtail squid forms a symbiotic

relationship with the ________ bacterium Aliivibrio
fischeri.

a. pathogenic

b. nitrogen-fixing

c. antibiotic-producing

d. bioluminescent
Microbial Symbioses with Humans

• All sites on a human that contain microorganisms are

part of a microbiome.

• A microbiome is a functional collection of different

microbes in a particular environmental system (e.g.,
the human microbiome).

• Scientists use the term microbiota to describe all the

microbes in a microhabitat (e.g., skin microbiota).

• Different microhabitats support different microbes,

so the skin will have very different microbes than
the mouth.
Overview of the Human Microbiome

• There are
approximately 1013
microbes in the
human microbiome
(Figure 24.1) living in
complex communities.

Figure 24.1
Overview of the Human Microbiome

• Future Benefits of Knowing the Human

Microbiome
• development of biomarkers for predicting predisposition
to diseases
• designing targeted therapies
• personalized drug therapies and probiotics
• These are very early studies, and they reveal that
there are complex interactions between host and
its microbiota.
Overview of the Human Microbiome

• Experimental Protocols and Body Target Sites

• Most Bacteria cannot be cultured; however, advanced

sequencing techniques allow for identification of
different microbiota at different body sites. (Figure 24.2)

• There have been multiple studies to determine the

nature of the normal microbiota. (Table 24.1)
Table 24.1
Overview of the Human Microbiome

• There are currently integrated projects underway

to answer basic questions about the human
microbiome.
• Do individuals share a core human microbiome?
• Is there a correlation between the composition of
microbiota colonizing a body site and host genotype?
• Do differences in the human microbiome correlate with
differences in human health?
• Are differences in the relative abundance of specific
bacterial populations important to either health or
disease?
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• Humans are monogastric and omnivorous.

• Microbes in gut affect early development, health,

and predisposition to disease.

• Colonization of gut begins at birth.

Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract (Figure 24.3)

• Consists of stomach, small intestine, and large

intestine; comprises 400 m2 of surface area

• Responsible for digestion of food, absorption of

nutrients, and production of nutrients by the
indigenous microbial flora

• Contains 1013 to 1014 microbial cells

Figure 24.3
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• The Stomach and Small Intestine

• Microbial populations in different areas of the GI tract are
influenced by diet and the physical conditions in the area.
• The acidity of the stomach and the duodenum of the small
intestine (~pH 2) prevent many organisms from colonizing
the GI tract; however, there is a rich microbiome in the
healthy stomach.
• Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria are common in
the gastric fluid, while Firmicutes and Proteobacteria are
common in the mucus layer of the stomach.
• Helicobacter pylori was discovered in the 1980s and has
since been found in ~50 percent of the world’s population.
When present, it is found in the gastric mucosa.
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• Intestinal microorganisms carry out a variety of

essential metabolic reactions that produce
various compounds
• The Large Intestine
• The colon is essentially an in vivo fermentation vessel,
with the microbiota using nutrients derived from the
digestion of food.
• Most organisms are restricted to the lumen of the large
intestine, while others are in the mucosal layers.
(Figure 24.6)
Figure 24.6
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• The vast majority (~98 percent) of all human gut

phylotypes fall into one of three major bacterial
phyla: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and
Proteobacteria.
• Individuals may have mostly Firmicutes, mostly
Bacteriodetes, or a mix of the two. This may regulate
metabolism and the host’s propensity for obesity.
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• Gut Enterotypes
• While individuals vary in their gut microbiota, each
individual has a relatively stable gut microbiota.
• There are three basic enterotypes currently being
studied: #1 is enriched in Bacteroides, #2 is in
Prevotella, and #3 is enriched in Ruminococcus.
• Early studies indicate that each enterotype is functionally
as well as phylogenetically distinct.
Gastrointestinal Microbiota

• Products of Intestinal Microbiota and “Educating”

the Immune System

• Many microbial metabolites or transformation products

that can be generated in the gut have significant
influence on host physiology. (Table 24.2)

• vitamin production

• modification of steroids

• amino acid biosynthesis