{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T03:00:58Z","timestamp":1790910058068,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":96,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,20]],"date-time":"2026-02-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771545600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":50,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["21\u00a0J22183"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21\u00a0J22183"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["20\u00a0K21447"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20\u00a0K21447"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["22\u00a0K19209"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22\u00a0K19209"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["24\u00a0K21988"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24\u00a0K21988"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Echinoderms, widely distributed and abundant marine invertebrates, host diverse microbial communities, including subcuticular symbiotic bacteria (SCB). However, the diversity and functional roles of these bacteria remain largely unexplored in intertidal brittle stars. Here, we utilized both culture-dependent and -independent methods to investigate SCBs in three different intertidal brittle star species. Amplicon sequencing revealed distinct subcuticular microbiota among the three brittle star species, with Endozoicomonadaceae dominating in Ophiarachnella gorgonia, Spirochaetota prevalent in O. exigua, and Entomoplasmatales enriched in O. japonicus. Fluorescence in situ hybridization further demonstrated that these bacteria formed microcolonies within the subcuticular space of the arms. We successfully isolated strain ToK13T, which possesses a nearly identical 16S rRNA gene sequence to that of the predominantly detected SCB. Sequence similarity analysis revealed that ToK13T exhibited 98.29%, 98.22%, and 98.16% 16S rRNA gene sequence identities to Kistimonas asteriae KMD 001T, K. scapharcae JCM 17805T, and K. alittae BGP-2T, respectively. This isolate is an obligate aerobic heterotroph i.e. capable of utilizing various monosaccharides. Genomic analysis identified genes associated with host interaction and symbiosis, including those involved in the biosynthesis of multiple vitamins, cofactors, and secondary metabolites with potential antimicrobial activity. Competition assays with co-cultured isolates revealed that strain ToK13T inhibits the growth of several bacterial taxa. Collectively, these findings suggest that host-specific SCBs may contribute to the survival strategies of brittle stars by mediating microbial interactions and potentially influencing host fitness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/ismeco\/ycag034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T12:32:21Z","timestamp":1771331541000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Subcuticular symbionts of intertidal brittle stars: diversity, host specificity, and functional potential"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6644-1405","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Keisuke","family":"Kawano","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University , Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-7823-080X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hiroyuki","family":"Morimura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hokkaido Center, Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Sapporo, Hokkaido 062-8517 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatsuya","family":"Awano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Forest and Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University , Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1651-2532","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yoshitomo","family":"Kikuchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hokkaido Center, Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Sapporo, Hokkaido 062-8517 ,","place":["Japan"]},{"name":"Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University , Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8589 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9405-4469","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shigeki","family":"Sawayama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University , Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0215-8154","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Satoshi","family":"Nakagawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University , Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502 ,","place":["Japan"]},{"name":"Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research (X-Star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science & Technology (JAMSTEC) , 2-15 Natsushima-Cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061 ,","place":["Japan"]},{"name":"Section for Exploration of Life in Extreme Environments, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS), National Institute of Natural Sciences , 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-Cho, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787 ,","place":["Japan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026042109363097400_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3354\/meps322001","article-title":"Regulation of microbial populations by coral surface mucus and mucus-associated bacteria","volume":"322","author":"Ritchie","year":"2006","journal-title":"Mar Ecol Prog 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