fmicb-09-01829 August 10, 2018 Time: 17:35 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 13 August 2018 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01829 The Microbial Landscape of Sea Stars and the Anatomical and Interspecies Variability of Their Microbiome Elliot W. Jackson1*, Charles Pepe-Ranney2, Spencer J. Debenport3, Daniel H. Buckley1,4 and Ian Hewson1 1 Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States, 2 AgBiome, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, United States, 3 Indigo Agriculture, Boston, MA, United States, 4 School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States Sea stars are among the most important predators in benthic ecosystems worldwide which is partly attributed to their unique gastrointestinal features and feeding behaviors. Edited by: Zhiyong Li, Despite their ecological importance, the microbiome of these animals and its influence Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China on adult host health and development largely remains unknown. To begin to understand Reviewed by: such interactions we sought to understand what bacteria are associated with these Barbara J. Campbell, Clemson University, United States animals, how the microbiome is partitioned across regions of the body and how Lu Fan, seawater influences their microbiome. We analyzed the microbiome composition of a Southern University of Science geographically and taxonomically diverse set of sea star taxa by using 16S rRNA gene and Technology, China amplicon sequencing and compared microorganisms associated with different regions *Correspondence: Elliot W. Jackson of their body and to their local environment. In addition, we estimated the bacterial and
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