A horizon scan of priorities for coastal marine microbiome research

Stacey M. Trevathan-Tackett*, Craig D. H. Sherman, Megan J. Huggett, Alexandra H. Campbell, Bonnie Laverock, Valentina Hurtado-McCormick, Justin R. Seymour, Alana Firl, Lauren F. Messer, Tracy D. Ainsworth, Karita L. Negandhi, Daniele Daffonchio, Suhelen Egan, Aschwin H. Engelen, Marco Fusi, Torsten Thomas, Laura Vann, Alejandra Hernandez-Agreda, Han Ming Gan, Ezequiel M. MarzinelliPeter D. Steinberg, Leo Hardtke, Peter I. Macreadie

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    88 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Research into the microbiomes of natural environments is changing the way ecologists and evolutionary biologists view the importance of microorganisms in ecosystem function. This is particularly relevant in ocean environments, where microorganisms constitute the majority of biomass and control most of the major biogeochemical cycles, including those that regulate Earth’s climate. Coastal marine environments provide goods and services that are imperative to human survival and well-being (for example, fisheries and water purification), and emerging evidence indicates that these ecosystem services often depend on complex relationships between communities of microorganisms (the ‘microbiome’) and the environment or their hosts — termed the ‘holobiont’. Understanding of coastal ecosystem function must therefore be framed under the holobiont concept, whereby macroorganisms and their associated microbiomes are considered as a synergistic ecological unit. Here, we evaluate the current state of knowledge on coastal marine microbiome research and identify key questions within this growing research area. Although the list of questions is broad and ambitious, progress in the field is increasing exponentially, and the emergence of large, international collaborative networks and well-executed manipulative experiments are rapidly advancing the field of coastal marine microbiome research.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1509-1520
    Number of pages12
    JournalNature Ecology and Evolution
    Volume3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2019

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'A horizon scan of priorities for coastal marine microbiome research'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this