The Bacterial Symbionts of Closely Related Hydrothermal Vent Snails With Distinct Geochemical Habitats Show Broad Similarity in Chemoautotrophic Gene Content.

ABSTRACT: Symbiosis has evolved between a diversity of invertebrate taxa and chemosynthetic bacterial lineages. At the broadest level, these symbioses share primary function: the bacterial symbionts use the energy harnessed from the oxidation of reduced chemicals to power the fixation of inorganic carbon and/or other nutrients, providing the bulk of host nutrition. However, it is unclear to what extent the ecological niche of the host species is influenced by differences in symbiont traits, particularly those involved in chemoautotrophic function and interaction with the geochemical environment. Hydrothermal vents in the Lau Basin (Tonga) are home to four morphologically and physiologically similar snail species from the sister genera Alviniconcha and Ifremeria. Here, we assembled near

SUBMITTER: Beinart RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6702916 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature