18S rDNA gene metabarcoding of microeukaryotes and epi-endophytes in the holobiome of seven species of large brown algae

20 pages, 6 figures, supporting Information https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.13377.-- Data Availability Statement: The complete sequencing data set is available at the European Nucleotide Archive under the study accession number PRJEB45285 (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB45285). Amplicon V4 sequence data are in Samples ERS6495425-ERS6495434, full-length 18S clone sequences from the brown algal hosts are available at NCBI GenBank under the Accession numbers OQ883584–OQ883643. All used R packages as well as other software are cited in “Methods” section

Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are habitat-forming species in coastal ecosystems and include kelp forests and seaweed beds that support a wide diversity of marine life. Host-associated microbial communities are an integral part of phaeophyte biology, and whereas the bacterial microbial partners have received considerable attention, the microbial eukaryotes associated with brown algae have hardly been studied. Here, we used broadly targeted “pan-eukaryotic” primers (metabarcoding) to investigate brown algal-associated eukaryotes (the eukaryome). Using this approach, we aimed to investigate the eukaryome of seven large brown algae that are important and common species in coastal ecosystems. We also aimed to assess whether these macroalgae harbor novel eukaryotic diversity and to ascribe putative functional roles to the host-associated eukaryome based on taxonomic affiliation and phylogenetic placement. We detected a significant diversity of microeukaryotic and algal lineages associated with the brown algal species investigated. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were taxonomically assigned to 10 of the eukaryotic major supergroups, including taxonomic groups known to be associated with seaweeds as epibionts, endobionts, parasites, and commensals. Additionally, we revealed previously unrecorded sequence types, including novel phaeophyte OTUs, particularly in the Fucus spp. samples, that may represent fucoid genomic variants, sequencing artifacts, or undescribed epi-/endophytes. Our results provide baseline data and technical insights that will be useful for more comprehensive seaweed eukaryome studies investigating the evidently lineage-rich and functionally diverse symbionts of brown algae

This study was supported financially by research funds from “Sunniva og Egil Baardseths legat, til støtte for forskning på makroalger” and from the University of Oslo, the Natural History Museum, London and the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) to M. F. M. Bjorbækmo

With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

Peer reviewed