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Sponges of the Aplysinidae family contain large amounts of bacteria that are embedded within the sponge tissue matrix. In order to determine the stability and specificity of the Aplysina–microbe association, sponges were maintained in recirculating seawater aquariums for 11 days. One aquarium was left untreated, a second one contained 0.45 μm filtered seawater (starvation conditions) and the third one contained 0.45 μm filtered seawater plus antibiotics (antibiotics exposure). Changes in the microbial community were monitored using group-specific, 16S rRNA targeted oligonucleotide probes, by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and by electron microscopic observations. Furthermore, the changes in the natural product profile were monitored using high-performance liquid chromatography. The measured parameters showed that a large fraction of the sponge-associated microbial community could not …