Meeting Abstract

126-2  Monday, Jan. 7 10:30 – 10:45  Coincident shifts in symbiotic communities underlie convergent host evolution PANKEY, MS*; MACARTNEY, KJ; GASTANALDI, M; GOCHFELD, DJ; SLATTERY, M; PLACHETZKI, DC; LESSER, MP; University of New Hampshire; University of New Hampshire; Escuela Superior de Ciencias Marinas; University of Mississippi; University of Mississippi; University of New Hampshire; University of New Hampshire sabrina.pankey@unh.edu http://unh.edu/symbiomics/

Microbial symbionts play crucial roles in metazoan health and have likely exerted considerable influence along evolutionary timescales. We examined the impact of microbial composition on both sponge phylogeny and trait evolution by mapping 16S variants onto a supermatrix phylogeny encompassing over 1000 sponge specimens sampled throughout the Caribbean. Similar and predictable ancestral shifts within the symbiont community both impact the tempo of host speciation and coincide with the evolution of host physiological traits. Together, these data support that microbial symbionts have significantly impacted evolution in early metazoans.