Low functional change despite high taxonomic turnover characterizes the <i>Ulva</i> microbiome across a 2000-km salinity gradient.

Abstract

The green seaweed <i>Ulva</i> relies on associated bacteria for morphogenesis and is an important model to study algal-bacterial interactions. <i>Ulva</i>-associated bacteria exhibit high turnover across environmental gradients, leading to the hypothesis that bacteria contribute to the acclimation potential of the host. However, the functional variation of these bacteria in relation to environmental changes remains unclear. We analyzed 91 <i>Ulva</i> samples across a 2000-kilometer Atlantic-Baltic Sea salinity gradient using metagenomic sequencing. Metabolic reconstruction of 639 metagenome-assembled genomes revealed widespread potential for carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and vitamin metabolism. Although the <i>R</i>² value for salinity explained 70% of taxonomic variation, it accounted only for 17% of functional variation. The limited variation was attributed to typical high-salinity bacteria exhibiting enrichment in genes for thiamine, pyridoxal, and betaine biosynthesis, which likely contribute to stress mitigation and osmotic homeostasis in response to salinity variations. Our results emphasize the importance of functional profiling to understand the seaweed holobiont and its collective response to environmental change.