Evidence of chemolithoautotrophy in the bacterial community associated with Alvinella pompejana, a hydrothermal vent polychaete.

ABSTRACT: The deep-sea polychaete Alvinella pompejana colonizes tubes on the sides of black smoker chimneys along the East Pacific Rise. A diverse, yet phylogenetically constrained episymbiotic community is obligately associated with its dorsal surface. The morphologically and phylogenetically distinct dominant episymbionts have not yet been cultured, and there are no clearly defined roles for these bacteria in this symbiosis. A large insert fosmid library was screened for the presence of the two dominant phylotypes. Two fosmids, 35.2 and 38 kb, containing phylotype-specific 16S ribosomal DNA sequences were fully sequenced. Each fosmid had a gene encoding ATP citrate lyase, a key enzyme in the reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle, a CO(2) fixation pathway. A selection of episymbiont communities f

SUBMITTER: Campbell BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC194926 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature