By filtering seawater to feed, oysters concentrate a large diversity of microorganisms from their environment, including bacteria and viruses, in a very restricted area.
At the Courtois Institute of Biomedical Innovation, the team led by Frédérique Le Roux, professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the University of Montreal, used the oyster as a mini-laboratory to follow the evolution of microbial communities in the marine environment for four years.
“The oyster is not only a farmed species intended for human consumption, it can also be an extraordinary research tool for exploring the abundance, diversity and interactions of these communities,” explains the woman who also holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in ecology, evolution and pathogenicity of microbes in nature.
Published in the journalNature Communications, the results of this study reveal an unexpected paradox: certain populations of bacteriophages, viruses that can only infect bacteria, remained stable over four years despite intense genetic activity in the bacteria they attacked.
“Despite the evolutionary pressures exerted within these microbial communities, this stability is surprising in an open marine environment, subject to tides and constant water movements,” indicates the researcher.
Instead, scientists expected to observe a rapid renewal of viral populations.
This discovery could help scientists better predict the evolution of microbial communities in the context of environmental changes.