Does sulphide detoxication occur in the gills of the hydrothermal vent shrimp, Rimicaris exoculata?
Ultrastructural observations of the gills of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata reveal that the epithelial cells contain numerous mitochondria clustered around unusual organelles (diameter of 0.7 to 2.5 microns) containing membrane stacks. These organelles were termed sulphide-oxidising bodies (SOBs) by structural analogy with organelles observed in the tissues of species adapted to sulphide-rich environments. Moreover, in the gills of R. exoculata, mitochondria display numerous electron-dense granules in their stroma. Such ultrastructural features suggest that sulphide detoxication may probably occur in the gills of R. exoculata. Comparable structures were also described in the gills of other hydrothermal vent species, as the alvinellid Pompeii worms that, as R. exoculata, are housing ectosymbiotic bacteria.
Laboratoire de biologie générale et de morphologie ultrastructurale, institut de zoologie, université de Liège, 22, quai Edouard Van Beneden, B-4020 Liège, Belgique. pcompere@ulg.ac.be
Philippe
P
Compère
Anne-Sophie
AS
Martinez
Mireille
M
Charmantier-Daures
Jean-Yves
JY
Toullec
Gerhard
G
Goffinet
Françoise
F
Gaill
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D033364:Decapoda / Q000378:metabolism*; D005880:Gills / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis; D013696:Temperature
D013440:Sulfides