Molecular characterization of bacteria associated with the trophosome and the tube of Lamellibrachia sp., a siboglinid annelid from cold seeps in the eastern Mediterranean.

TitleMolecular characterization of bacteria associated with the trophosome and the tube of Lamellibrachia sp., a siboglinid annelid from cold seeps in the eastern Mediterranean.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsDuperron, S, de Beer, D, Zbinden, M, Boetius, A, Schipani, V, Kahil, N, Gaill, F
JournalFEMS Microbiol Ecol
Volume69
Issue3
Pagination395-409
Date Published2009 Sep
ISSN1574-6941
KeywordsAnimals, Annelida, DNA, Bacterial, Ecosystem, Gammaproteobacteria, Geologic Sediments, In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Sulfides, Symbiosis, Water Microbiology
Abstract

Specimens of Lamellibrachia (Annelida: Siboglinidae) were recently discovered at cold seeps in the eastern Mediterranean. In this study, we have investigated the phylogeny and function of intracellular bacterial symbionts inhabiting the trophosome of specimens of Lamellibrachia sp. from the Amon mud volcano, as well as the bacterial assemblages associated with their tube. The dominant intracellular symbiont of Lamellibrachia sp. is a gammaproteobacterium closely related to other sulfide-oxidizing tubeworm symbionts. In vivo uptake experiments show that the tubeworm relies on sulfide for its metabolism, and does not utilize methane. Bacterial communities associated with the tube form biofilms and occur from the anterior to the posterior end of the tube. The diversity of 16S rRNA gene phylotypes includes representatives from the same divisions previously identified from the tube of the vent species Riftia pachyptila, and others commonly found at seeps and vents.

DOI10.1111/j.1574-6941.2009.00724.x
Alternate JournalFEMS Microbiol. Ecol.
PubMed ID19583785