Evidence for chemoautotrophic symbiosis in a Mediterranean cold seep clam (Bivalvia : Lucinidae): comparative sequence analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA, APS reductase and RubisCO genes

Symbioses between lucinid clams (Bivalvia: Lucinidae) and autotrophic sulphide-oxidizing bacteria have mainly been studied in shallow coastal species, and information regarding deep-sea species is scarce. Here we study the symbiosis of a clam, resembling Lucinoma kazani, which was recently collected in sediment cores from new cold-seep sites in the vicinity of the Nile deep-sea fan, eastern Mediterranean, at depths ranging from 507 to 1691 m. A dominant bacterial phylotype, related to the sulphide-oxidizing symbiont of Lucinoma aequizonata, was identified in gill tissue by comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. A second phylotype, related to spirochete sequences, was identified twice in a library of 94 clones. Comparative analyses of gene sequences encoding the APS reductase alpha subunit and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase support the hypothesis that the dominant symbiont can perform sulphide oxidation and autotrophy. Transmission electron micrographs of gills confirmed the dominance of sulphide-oxidizing bacteria, which display typical vacuoles, and delta C-13 values measured in gill and foot tissue further support the hypothesis for a chemoautotrophic-sourced host carbon nutrition.

Keyword(s)

Eastern Mediterranean, Cold seeps, Lucinoma, Lucinidae, Sulphide oxidizing bacteria, Symbiosis

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Duperron Sebastien, Fiala Medioni Aline, Caprais Jean-Claude, Olu Karine, Sibuet Myriam (2007). Evidence for chemoautotrophic symbiosis in a Mediterranean cold seep clam (Bivalvia : Lucinidae): comparative sequence analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA, APS reductase and RubisCO genes. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 59 (1). 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00194.x, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2176/

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