Diversity and partitioning of bacterial populations within the accessory nidamental gland of the squid Euprymna scolopes.

ABSTRACT: Microbial consortia confer important benefits to animal and plant hosts, and model associations are necessary to examine these types of host/microbe interactions. The accessory nidamental gland (ANG) is a female reproductive organ found among cephalopod mollusks that contains a consortium of bacteria, the exact function of which is unknown. To begin to understand the role of this organ, the bacterial consortium was characterized in the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, a well-studied model organism for symbiosis research. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the ANG revealed dense bacterial assemblages of rod- and coccus-shaped cells segregated by morphology into separate, epithelium-lined tubules. The host epithelium was morphologically heterogeneous, containing cil

SUBMITTER: Collins AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3370523 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature