Resistance to freezing conditions of endemic Antarctic polychaetes is enhanced by cryoprotective proteins produced by their microbiome.

Abstract

The microbiome plays a key role in the health of all metazoans. Whether and how the microbiome favors the adaptation processes of organisms to extreme conditions, such as those of Antarctica, which are incompatible with most metazoans, is still unknown. We investigated the microbiome of three endemic and widespread species of Antarctic polychaetes: <i>Leitoscoloplos geminus</i>, <i>Aphelochaeta palmeri</i>, and <i>Aglaophamus trissophyllus</i>. We report here that these invertebrates contain a stable bacterial core dominated by <i>Meiothermus</i> and <i>Anoxybacillus</i>, equipped with a versatile genetic makeup and a unique portfolio of proteins useful for coping with extremely cold conditions as revealed by pangenomic and metaproteomic analyses. The close phylosymbiosis between <i>Meiothermus</i> and <i>Anoxybacillus</i> and these Antarctic polychaetes indicates a connection with their hosts that started in the past to support holobiont adaptation to the Antarctic Ocean. The wide suite of bacterial cryoprotective proteins found in Antarctic polychaetes may be useful for the development of nature-based biotechnological applications.