Induced Dysbiosis Modifies Physiological Responses to Warming in a Temperate Sponge.

Disrupted microbiomes amplify temperature-induced respiration increases in Rowella lancifera sponges under simulated marine heatwaves.

• Why it matters: Understanding how microbial symbionts influence sponge responses to warming is crucial for predicting impacts on benthic ecosystems amid increasing marine heatwaves caused by climate change.
• What they did: The study disrupted sponge microbiomes with antibiotics and exposed the sponges to sub-lethal heat stress, analyzing microbial community changes via 16S rRNA sequencing and measuring respiration rates.
• The result: Microbiome disruption intensified respiration responses to heat, and a link between microbial community structure and host physiology suggests microbiomes modulate sponge resilience to warming, informing ecosystem stability predictions.