T-RFLP profiling of the microbial communities associated with the marine Tunicate Mogula Manhattanensis

Tunicates are generally sessile, filter feeding marine members of the Chordata phylum. Recently, interest in these animals has increased as they have been shown to be a rich source of natural products. In addition, tunicates have also been shown to be host to a large numbers of associated microbes, although these host-associated microbes have not been extensively studied. Investigating tunicate-associated microbial communities can help answer many questions about their relationship with their host: when did the tunicate acquire these bacteria and how are the microbial communities transmitted to offspring, what types of microbes are sequestered and where are they localized, and what function do they serve for the host and/or for the microbes? In this study, we consider a tunicate species native to the Long Island Sound, Mogula manhattanensis, and attempt to answer questions related to locations of microbial sequestration via genomic studies, in particular, evaluation of community 16S rRNA using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) to characterize the associated microbial communities.