Sea urchins are key grazers in coastal seas, where they can survive a variety of conditions and diets, enhancing their ecological impact on kelp forests and other ecosystems. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized bacterial communities associated with guts of the two dominant sea urchin species in southern California, the red urchin Mesocentrotus franciscanus, and the purple urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Our results show that the two urchin species have distinct gut microbiomes that vary with habitat. The taxonomic composition of their microbiomes suggests that they may facilitate digestion of food and be a source of nutrition themselves. These results highlight the role of microbiomes within macroorganisms as an extended ecological trait, and suggest that microbes may be crucial to resource use and partitioning in co‐occurring species.

中文翻译：

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海胆微生物群落随生境和资源的可用性而变化

海胆是沿海海域的主要放牧者，它们可以在各种条件和饮食下生存，从而增强了它们对海带森林和其他生态系统的生态影响。使用16S rRNA基因测序，我们表征了与南加州两种主要海胆物种，红色海胆Mesocentrotus Franciscanus和紫色海胆Strongylocentrotus purpuratus的肠道相关的细菌群落。我们的结果表明，这两种海胆物种具有不同的肠道微生物区系，其随生境的不同而不同。它们的微生物群的分类学组成表明，它们可以促进食物的消化并本身就是营养的来源。这些结果突出了微生物群作为一种扩展的生态性状在大型生物中的作用，并表明微生物对于共生物种的资源利用和分配可能至关重要。