Microbiome of Biomphalaria hemolymph and environmental water

We investigated the diversity and abundance of microorganisms within the hemolymph (i.e. blood) of two species of Biomphalaria snails (B. glabrata (6 populations) and B. alexandrina (1 population)), intermediate host for the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. We amplified the 16S V4 rDNA of snail hemolymph samples and snail water environment samples and compared their microbial composition. We speculate that the snail hemolymph microbiome may represent a critical, but unexplored intermediary in the snail-schistosome interaction as hemolymph is in very close contact to the parasite at each step of its development.