Diversity of polyketide synthase (PKS) genes of eukaryotic algae in microbiomes of endemic Baikalian sponges

Abstract

The present study focuses on identification and analysis of the diversity of polyketide synthase (PKS) genes of eukaryotic algae from the microbiomes of four species of Baikal sponges: Lubomirskia baicalensis, Baikalospongia fungiformis, Swartschewskia papyracea, and Rezinkovia echinata. PKS are multifunctional enzymes responsible for the synthesis of a wide variety of bioactive metabolites. All studied sponge communities contained the PKS-sequences closely related to those from the ochrophytic alga Nannochloropsis gaditana; in the microbiomes of three sponge species (except for S. papyracea) PKS-sequences with homology of haptophytic algae Emiliania huxleyi and Chrysochromulina sp. were revealed. The obtained data indicate that eukaryotic symbionts contribute, along with bacteria, to the formation of the biotechnological potential of the Baikalian sponges.