INBALANCE

Invertebrate-Bacterial Associations as Hotpots of Benthic Nitrogen Cycling In Estuarine Ecosystems

Project title: „Invertebrate-bacterial associations as hotspot of benthic nitrogen cycling in estuarine ecosystems (INBALANCE)”
Project No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0069
Project duration: from 2017-12 to 2021-12
Summary: Project aim – quantify target microbial nitrogen transformations processes in benthic invertebrate hosts (suspension filter feeders and deposit feeders) and identify specify of animal-bacterial associations along spatial and physical-chemical gradients (geography and eutrophication). The project is step forward in disentangling the complexity of benthic nitrogen cycling and integrates traditional (process rates measurements) with more recent ones targeting transcriptomic.
Planned results: Results will provided quantitative information about ecological interaction between microorganism and they benthic invertebrate host in regulating nitrogen cycling in shallow. Targeting not only rates, but also metagenome, our approach would make it possible to depict the complete nitrogen cycle, and validate the importance of quantified pathways, which is relevant for future environmental monitoring programs. This will be essential to preserve coastal habitats as requested under the Europe Union (EU) Directive and in order to achieve a good environmental status as required under EU Marine Strategy Framework directive.

Project is founded from the European Social Fund according to the activity No. 09.33.3-LMT-K-712 "Improvement of researchers qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects of Measure"

About the project INBALANCE

Overall, invertebrate-bacterial associations may represent benthic biogeochemical hotspots of nitrogen (N) cycling but their relevance to ecosystem functioning remains essentially unknown in shallow estuarine systems. Combining traditional biogeochemistry with more recent advanced functional genomics methods at both the organism and the ecosystem level will be used in this project to bridge the existing gaps of knowledge, and disentangling benthic N cycling that can be attributed to the complex relationships among micro- and macroorganisms, which may change along gradients of resources, nutrients, temperatures and etc.





This project aims at better understanding the distribution on, diversity and functional role of bacteria associated with benthic invertebrate hosts in estuarine zones along a geographical gradient (subtropical, warm temperate, cold temperate, boreal) and a eutrophication gradient (locally within each site, at increasing distance from terrestrial inputs). In the project, we will quantify rates and activity of microbial N transformations in two functional groups of invertebrate hosts: suspension filter feeders and deposit feeders.

Project activities

Activity 1: Quantify target microbial N transformations in key benthic invertebrate hosts;

Activity 2: Identify the genetic and functional diversity of the microbiome;

Activity 3: Determine the specificity and plasticity of the animal-bacterial associations;

Activity 4: Evaluate the role of animal-bacterial associations in N cycling pathways in the benthic estuarine habitats using ecological network and systematic N balance analysis.









Where we look for microbe hosts?