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Co-expression analysis reveals distinct alliances around two carbon fixation pathways in hydrothermal vent symbionts

ABSTRACT: Biological carbon fixation is foundational to the biosphere. Most autotrophs are thought to possess one carbon fixation pathway. The hydrothermal vent tubeworm Riftia pachyptila’s chemoautotrophic symbionts, however, possess two functional pathways: the Calvin Benson-Bassham (CBB) and the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycles. Little is known about how Riftia’s symbionts and related organisms coordinate the functioning of these two pathways. Here we investigated net carbon fixation rates, transcriptional/metabolic responses, and transcriptional co-expression patterns of Riftia pachyptila’s endosymbionts by incubating tubeworms at environmental pressures, temperature, and geochemistry. Results showed that rTCA and CBB transcriptional patterns varied in response to different geochemical regimes and that each pathway is allied to specific metabolic processes, suggesting distinctive yet complementary roles in metabolic function. Net carbon fixation rates were also exemplary, and accordingly we propose that co-activity of CBB and rTCA may be an adaptation for maintaining high carbon fixation rates, conferring a fitness advantage in dynamic vent environments.

ORGANISM(S): Candidatus Endoriftia persephone

PROVIDER: GSE249345 | GEO | 2024/03/28

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Bathymodiolus mussels inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents harbor bacterial symbionts in their gills, which support the animals’ diet. While the basic mechanisms of energy generation and CO2 fixation that drive these symbioses are largely established, details of molecular interactions between the symbiotic partners and adaptations to their respective habitats remain unknown. In this study, we therefore comparatively examined the genomes and proteomes of two Bathymodiolus hosts and their respective symbionts from different geographical locations. Two mussel species were proteomically compared: i) B. thermophilus mussel containing sulfur-oxidizing symbiont from the east pacific rise. thermophilus and ii) B. azoricus containing thiotrophic and methanotrophic symbionts from the mid-atlantic ridge. Symbionts (for both species) and host components (for B. azoricus) were selectively enriched using a multi-step centrifugation procedure. Enriched host and symbiont fractions along with unenriched gill foot tissue were subject to in-depth semi-quantitative proteomic analyses using the orbitrap and velos mass spectrometers. Proteins were quantified based on their spectral counts using the normalized spectral abundance factor (NSAF) method. We identified common strategies of metabolic interactions that provide mutual nutritional support between host and symbionts, such as the detoxification of ambient sulfide by the Bathymodiolus host, which provides a stable thiosulfate reservoir for the thiotrophic symbionts, and a putative amino acid cycling mechanism that could supply the host with symbiont-derived amino acids. A suite of genes and proteins putatively related to virulence or defense functions was particularly abundant in the B. thermophilus symbiont, compared to its symbiont relatives, and may pose a host species-specific adaptation. Our results reveal both, a high degree of integration between the symbiotic partners, and great potential to adapt to the prevailing environment, which facilitate the holobiont’s survival in its hydrothermal vent habitat.

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Co-expression analysis reveals distinct alliances around two carbon fixation pathways in hydrothermal vent symbionts

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