Antagonistic Interactions among Bacteria Isolated from either the Same or from Different Sponges Native to the Brazilian Coast

Associations between sponges and bacteria have existed for over 600 million years and are one of the most ancient of all symbioses between microbes and metazoa. Mostsponges host diverse and abundant communities of microorganisms, whichcontribute to host health, ecology and evolution. 

Antagonistic Interactions among Bacteria

The relationship between sponges and their associated microbial communities is so important that microorganisms can contribute to more than 35% of the sponge biomass and may undertake diverse functional roles including nutrition, cycling of metabolites and host defense. The phylum Porifera includes approximately 8,700 valid species known worldwide. Of these, 515 species have so far been identified in Brazil. There is a lack of reliable baseline data on the composition and stability of symbiotic microbial communities for most sponge species. Read more>>>>>>>>>