The lens of the Sonic Holobiont. A perspective on acoustic influence on microbial communities and its application as an additional layer to the holobiont concept.

Robin Morabito, Federico Ortenzi, Ivano Pelicella, Blasco Morozzo Della Rocca 

When studying micro and macro biomes in the quest for a more general understanding, we can hardly escape from a holistic perspective. At first, symbiosis was demonstrated to be a ubiquitous phenomenon in living cells, shaping evolutionary patterns across species at very different scales. The “holobiont” concept gains a central role in modern biology. The observation of the complex inter- and intra-specific interactions among organisms living in the same ecological niche, becomes itself an object of study. Stemming from Bernie Krause’s “acoustic niche” hypothesis, we extend his observations on stratification and interaction of bioacoustics stimuli to include microorganisms as an integral part of any ecosystem, highlighting interactions at the acoustic level. A mechanosensitive element set is evolutionary conserved, suggesting mechanical perception as an important feature for (micro)organisms thriving and survival. We propose the concept of “sonic holobiont” to include all sonic interactions in order to tackle the complexity of all relationships occurring within an ecosystem at all scales. Informed by the current developments in microbial acoustics and recording techniques, we highlight open questions in need of being addressed to get a broader understanding on this young discipline. We advance a novel viewpoint on reported evolutionary conserved mechanoperception, inviting further exploration of this abundant and unexplored, to use Feynman’s words, “space at the bottom”.