Investigation of bacterial communities within the digestive organs of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata provide insights into holobiont geographic clustering.

ABSTRACT: Prokaryotic communities forming symbiotic relationships with the vent shrimp, Rimicaris exoculata, are well studied components of hydrothermal ecosystems at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Despite the tight link between host and symbiont, the observed lack of spatial genetic structure seen in R. exoculata contrasts with the geographic differentiation detected in specific bacterial ectosymbionts. The geographic clustering of bacterial lineages within a seemingly panmictic host suggests either the presence of finer scale restriction to gene flow not yet detected in the host, horizontal transmission (environmental selection) of its endosymbionts as a consequence of unique vent geochemistry, or vertically transmitted endosymbionts that exhibit genetic differentiation. To identify which hypothesi

SUBMITTER: Cowart DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5351989 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature