"Failure To Launch": Development of a Reproductive Organ Linked to Symbiotic Bacteria.

Developmental processes in animals are influenced by colonization and/or signaling from microbial symbionts. Here, we show that bacteria from the environment are linked to development of a symbiotic organ that houses a bacterial consortium in female Hawaiian bobtail squid, . In addition to the well-characterized light organ association with the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri, female house a simple bacterial community in a reproductive organ, the accessory nidamental gland (ANG).

Hawaiian Bobtail Squid Symbionts Inhibit Marine Bacteria via Production of Specialized Metabolites, Including New Bromoalterochromides BAC-D/D'.

The Hawaiian bobtail squid, , has a symbiotic bacterial consortium in the accessory nidamental gland (ANG), a female reproductive organ that protects eggs against fouling microorganisms. To test the antibacterial activity of ANG community members, 19 bacterial isolates were screened for their ability to inhibit Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, of which two strains were inhibitory. These two antibacterial isolates, sp.

Shielding the Next Generation: Symbiotic Bacteria from a Reproductive Organ Protect Bobtail Squid Eggs from Fungal Fouling.

The importance of defensive symbioses, whereby microbes protect hosts through the production of specific compounds, is becoming increasingly evident. Although defining the partners in these associations has become easier, assigning function to these relationships often presents a significant challenge. Here, we describe a functional role for a bacterial consortium in a female reproductive organ in the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Bacteria from the accessory nidamental gland (ANG) are deposited into the egg jelly coat (JC), where they are hypothesized to play a defensive role during embryogenesis.

Symbiotic organs shaped by distinct modes of genome evolution in cephalopods.

Microbes have been critical drivers of evolutionary innovation in animals. To understand the processes that influence the origin of specialized symbiotic organs, we report the sequencing and analysis of the genome of , a model cephalopod with richly characterized host-microbe interactions. We identified large-scale genomic reorganization shared between and and posit that this reorganization has contributed to the evolution of cephalopod complexity.

Leisingera sp. JC1, a Bacterial Isolate from Hawaiian Bobtail Squid Eggs, Produces Indigoidine and Differentially Inhibits Vibrios.

Female members of many cephalopod species house a bacterial consortium in the accessory nidamental gland (ANG), part of the reproductive system. These bacteria are deposited into eggs that are then laid in the environment where they must develop unprotected from predation, pathogens, and fouling. In this study, we characterized the genome and secondary metabolite production of Leisingera sp.