Identity of epibiotic bacteria on symbiontid euglenozoans in O2-depleted marine sediments: evidence for symbiont and host co-evolution.

ABSTRACT: A distinct subgroup of euglenozoans, referred to as the 'Symbiontida,' has been described from oxygen-depleted and sulfidic marine environments. By definition, all members of this group carry epibionts that are intimately associated with underlying mitochondrion-derived organelles beneath the surface of the hosts. We have used molecular phylogenetic and ultrastructural evidence to identify the rod-shaped epibionts of the two members of this group, Calkinsia aureus and B.bacati, hand-picked from the sediments of two separate oxygen-depleted, sulfidic environments. We identify their epibionts as closely related sulfur or sulfide-oxidizing members of the epsilon proteobacteria. The epsilon proteobacteria generally have a significant role in deep-sea habitats as primary colonizers, primary pro

SUBMITTER: Edgcomb VP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3105687 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature