Next, we identified dynamic shifts of certain bacterial communities in the scallop hemolymph along immune response progression, where host antimicrobial effectors were expressed at basal level and early induced after a bacterial challenge. To do this, we first characterized the microbiota composition in the hemolymph from non-stimulated scallops, finding both common and distinct bacterial communities dominated by the Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes and Bacteroidetes phyla. Thus, to give new insights into the interaction between scallop immune response and its associated microbiota, we assessed the involvement of two host antimicrobial effectors in shaping the abundances of bacterial communities present in the scallop Argopecten purpuratus hemolymph.

Still, high mortalities at larval stages are widely reported and they are associated with pathogenic Vibrio. Scallops remain healthy most of the time, and in general, only a few species are fatally affected on adult stage by viral and bacterial pathogens.

Marine aquatic invertebrates such as scallops are also colonized by diverse microbial communities. This interaction allows the specific association of microbial communities, which participate in a variety of processes in the host including protection against pathogens.

The interaction between host immune response and the associated microbiota has recently become a fundamental aspect of vertebrate and invertebrate animal health.

6Laboratory of Immunology Applied to Aquaculture, Department of Cell Biology, Embryology and Genetics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.

5Laboratorio de Fisiología Marina (FIGEMA), Departamento de Acuicultura, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile.

4Laboratorio de Patobiología Acuática, Departamento de Acuicultura, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile.

3GreenCoLab, Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal.

2Laboratorio de Genética e Inmunología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.

Programa Cooperativo Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica del Norte, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaiso, Chile Roxana González 1,2, Ana Teresa Gonçalves 3, Rodrigo Rojas 4, Katherina Brokordt 5, Rafael Diego Rosa 6 and Paulina Schmitt 2*

2180 by philippe goncalves